What a day. What a week. Have you had a few of those?
So what kind of music do you listen to when all seems to be a bit bluer than normal? Lots, Some, None.
Finding the right music mixed with the right combination of silence, can be one way to validate and recover from momentary sadness..that is unless you have stopped listening to music entirely like I did 18 years ago.
After delivering my beautiful daughter I quietly slipped into a deep melancholic state and didn’t even know it. The result…I stopped listening to music for pleasure. Fourteen months after my daughter was born I remember being stopped at a red light and having the desire to tune in to a station I had once loved to listen to. The moment I turned that dial I learned two things about myself: a) that I had been depressed and didn’t know it and b) today was the day I finally felt a bit better. I remember smiling as I moved through the green and on to the rest of my life.
My NOT listening to music was a clear indicator that my mood had altered, turning into what I now know was undiagnosed postpartum depression. Over the years I have worked with many individuals who drastically changed their musical listening interests or stopped listening to music altogether, depending on where they were in their sadness cycle.
Research shows that listening to music can lift your mood – or help you feel strengthened. Also in the right clinical setting music can help decrease depression by up to 25%. So there is some good news: If you are having a blue day you may want to reach for music, not necessarily happy music , but music that reflects and validates your current emotional state. You may just start feeling a little better and as we say around here 5%, might just be enough for today.
If you are wanting a hand with the journey do not hesitate to contact us. We want to help.
Do you have post-partum depression (take the quiz)
Question of the Week: What song seemingly pulled you out of a funk?
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Jennifer Buchanan is the happy owner of JB Music Therapy