How and Why Music Can Effectively Treat Depression

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According to the World Health Organization, depression affects 264 million people worldwide, leads to suicide, and majorly contributes to the global burden of disease1. For example, depression can increase our risk of developing fractures2, Alzheimer’s3, a stroke4,5, dementia and cognitive decline6, and diabetes7. The good news is that music therapy can improve depression in patients with cancer8, in terminally ill patients9, in older adults10, and in people with dementia11, just to name a few.

Here are a few techniques to help improve depression:

1. Nonmusical Activities: Morgan and Jorm (2008)12 showed that St John’s wort, bibliotherapy, distraction, relaxation training, exercise, pleasant activities, sleep deprivation, and light therapy are effective in treating depression. They did say that music had a promising potential, but more evidence in its favor has since come out, especially considering that music can be a distraction, a pleasant activity, and relaxation training. For example, a systematic review found that using music as a relaxation technique had the greatest effect on reducing depression and the improvement was sustained 24 weeks later13.

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1. Music Listening: Listen to music for 2–3 weeks. As long as you enjoy it, what you listen to doesn’t matter, but be sure to listen for 2–3 weeks to reduce depressive symptoms to let the effects build14. For depression, I recommend listening to sad music at first. People with higher levels of depression say they like sad music more than people with lower levels of depression15, and sad music may be particularly suited to be an enjoyable experience in people with depression (see Sachs et al., 2015)16. Check out my Music and Meditation post for more tips.
2. Music Therapy: Music Therapy can provide music listening, instrumental play, singing, and music movement interventions, and these interventions effectively treat depression17. Twenty sessions or more of music therapy on patients in correctional facilities produces better outcomes on depression than fewer sessions18, but the dosage also depends on the severity of the diagnosis19.

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How does music and music therapy treat depression? Looking at older patients, we can see that it’s multifaceted, affecting our physical body, our emotions, and our culture and relationships17:

1. Physical: It releases endorphins, activates the body through rhythmic patterns, and stimulates emotion and memory systems in the brain.
2. Cultural: It helps us process, experience, and imitate its creative and aesthetic qualities
3. Personal: It can help us remember happier memories, process emotions, improve well-being and self-efficacy, and develop self-confidence.
4. Social: It can help us improve social skills, build relationships, and participate in social activities.

Effective treatment will include a wide range of interventions that address multiple areas of our lives17, and music therapy can do that preferred musical experiences.

1. WHO (2020); 2. Qiu et al. (2018); 3. Ownby et al. (2006); 4. Dong et al. (2011), 5. Pan et al. (2011), 6. Jorm (2011); 7. Yu, Zhang, Lu, & Fang (2015), 8. Li et al., 2020, 9. Gao et al., (2019), 10. Zhoa Bai, Bo, & Chi (2016); 11. Aleixo, Santos, & do Nascimento Dourado (2017), 12. Morgan and Jorm (2008); 13. Klainin-Youbas et al. (2015); 14. Xue (2011), 15. Hogue et al. (2016), 16. Sachs et al. (2015),17. Dunphy et al. (2015), 18. Chen et al. (2016); 19. Gold, Solli, Kruger, & Lie (2009)