# Does Classical Music Help Your Anxiety?



## Captainnumber36 (Jan 19, 2017)

Whenever I'm feeling overwhelmed, I listen to Classical (even upbeat or violent Classical) b/c it's part of my identity and helps remind me of the type of man I am.

Can anyone relate?


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## Phil loves classical (Feb 8, 2017)

No. When I'm feeling stressed, I don't need to be reminded of who I am.


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## Captainnumber36 (Jan 19, 2017)

Haha! :lol: :lol:


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## Janspe (Nov 10, 2012)

Captainnumber36 said:


> Can anyone relate?


Maybe in ways that are different from yours - who knows? - but yes I can. I had a period of intense anxiety and depression some years ago and music was definitely one of the things that kept me going. I remember gravitating towards Schumann's music in particular during those times, and he still remains my favourite composer. Music can bring so much comfort when life isn't exactly going according to plan.


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## violadude (May 2, 2011)

No, when I feel anxiety or depression music just sounds like walls of noise to me. I need to get rid of the anxiety first so I can unclog my mind and allow myself to concentrate and love the music again.


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## Strange Magic (Sep 14, 2015)

I'm afraid I might like the wrong music!


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

That might have been true at some point in my life. In general I'd say "no." I'm more apt to engage in physical exercise or some other decisive activity to get past a bad mood.


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## soni (Jul 3, 2018)

I'm with the rest of the posters here - music doesn't do it for me, I need fresh air and 4'33"


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

soni said:


> I'm with the rest of the posters here - music doesn't do it for me, I need fresh air and 4'33"


With me 4'33" is likely to mean four hours and thirty-three minutes. Almost enough time to listen to "The Well-tuned Piano."


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## Lilijana (Dec 17, 2019)

I have suffered bouts of depression and anxiety, and any kind of music, my favourite tv shows, food, doing anything I like at all, ranges from just being difficult to actually being painful and something I would avoid at all costs.

However, when I am not suffering too much from mental health problems I have found a lot of solace in music by Lachenmann, Ferneyhough, Paredes, Furrer, Neuwirth and Saunders, to name a few when I might just be feeling a bit down in the dumps.


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## Rogerx (Apr 27, 2018)

Captainnumber36 said:


> Whenever I'm feeling overwhelmed, I listen to Classical (even upbeat or violent Classical) b/c it's part of my identity and helps remind me of the type of man I am.
> 
> Can anyone relate?


Not really Captain ........


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## SONNET CLV (May 31, 2014)

*Does Classical Music Help Your Anxiety? *

If I want to _help_ my anxiety (that is, to increase it) I can always come back to this Forum and read posts, especially my own.

I've long believed music (and for me, arts in general) should stimulate senses, even when that stimulation is a soothing one. But it should not necessarily relax, as in "put one to sleep". So, I'm not so sure where anxiety comes into play here. I certainly don't listen to music or attend a concert to increase my anxiety (though going to concerts -- traffic, fees, uncomfortable seating, etc. -- can certainly contribute), and I don't really recall seeking something out in order to sublimate feelings of anxiety. I still view music as an adventurous journey. I know folks who are pleased to have "seen" the world through their travels; I've "heard" the world through mine. I pursue it with an eagerness rather than an anxiousness. And that suits me just fine.


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## Enthusiast (Mar 5, 2016)

I listen to music a lot of the time and I don't suffer from anxiety ... so maybe. 

But I do still get depressed sometimes and find music can ameliorate the bad sides of the experience but does not "cure" it. Luckily depression merely makes me lethargic and unmotivated - it doesn't usually make me tearful or in pain in some way - so I think of it more as a frame of mind (albeit one that can be inconvenient) and music can be a good sound track to it.


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## mrdoc (Jan 3, 2020)

Yes music helps but I find that having one of my cats on my lap letting me stroke her/him and murmur words of endearment works wonders...


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## Judith (Nov 11, 2015)

When I took up classical music seriously nearly six years ago, I was suffering awful anxiety. Although, it did help, never realised classical music was taking me on a journey


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## Merl (Jul 28, 2016)

I do get what you mean, Captain, and years ago it did calm any rages inside (as did most music that I liked) but nowadays, if I'm in a bad mood, I want quiet
No music, no-one blethering away, etc.


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## HerbertNorman (Jan 9, 2020)

When I started listening to classical music it opened a new "world" for me , in the sense that I wasn't listening to music just as a mode or a way to enjoy myself. I still listen to other kinds of music , but classical music is the one that challenges me and in the same time gives me a way to calm the mind together with being enjoyable. It's like meditation sometimes , you are so intensely listening to the music , all the rest pales into insignificance in a way...


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## mrdoc (Jan 3, 2020)

A good friend of mine went through a period of severe depression when his Wife died and he told me if it wasn't for his music he did not know how he would have coped, I think. being left to your own devices is not good you brood and can get very dark thoughts.


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## Enthusiast (Mar 5, 2016)

There is now a lot of evidence that running (a few miles most days) is as effective (or more) than most medication for depression. You can listed to stirring music while you run.


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## aussiebushman (Apr 21, 2018)

Having been a depressive for many decades - not helped by living alone in the bush for over 10 years with one daughter not speaking to me for most of that time, I can say without reservation that classical Music is one of the most reliable antidotes. 

I can go for many days or even weeks without playing a single piece, but then quite suddenly realising that the solution is available if I force myself to act. Some composers are more effective than others to restore a positive mood. Bach always works.Curiously, so will Shostakovitch and Villa Lobos. The musical format is not critical but chamber music and symphonies are probably the most reliable.

Hard to share such private thoughts on a "public" forum but if it helps anyone else, my best wishes.

Alan


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## geralmar (Feb 15, 2013)

When my mother died... .


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## geralmar (Feb 15, 2013)

Immediately after the Twin Towers fell on 9/11/2001 I turned the television off and left it off until regular broadcasting resumed two weeks later. In the interim I listened to nothing but classical music on the radio and on my stereo. For news I relied on the newspapers. I didn't need the mindless, repetitive, deliberately exaggerated assault of television to stay informed. Classical music provided the distance and sense of history and perspective I needed to avoid succumbing to the wallowing national hysteria and selfpity.


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## Oldhoosierdude (May 29, 2016)

I'm a pretty calm dude, not really prone to anxiety but when I want to calm down or to meditate, I often use classical music. When work stress gets to me I turn on music. My choice in these times is generally Bach piano or cello works. Sometimes Satie or Haydn piano. Concentrating on the beauty of the music usually does the trick.


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## Captainnumber36 (Jan 19, 2017)

Oldhoosierdude said:


> I'm a pretty calm dude, not really prone to anxiety but when I want to calm down or to meditate, I often use classical music. When work stress gets to me I turn on music. My choice in these times is generally Bach piano or cello works. Sometimes Satie or Haydn piano. Concentrating on the beauty of the music usually does the trick.


Isn't it ironic that many of these composers suffered mental anguish?


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## Oldhoosierdude (May 29, 2016)

Captainnumber36 said:


> Isn't it ironic that many of these composers suffered mental anguish?


It is, what a seeming contradiction. Being moderately creative (a writer) I can understand it. Maybe you can also.


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## Captainnumber36 (Jan 19, 2017)

Oldhoosierdude said:


> It is, what a seeming contradiction. Being moderately creative (a writer) I can understand it. Maybe you can also.


Yes, I can!


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## Manxfeeder (Oct 19, 2010)

violadude said:


> No, when I feel anxiety or depression music just sounds like walls of noise to me. I need to get rid of the anxiety first so I can unclog my mind and allow myself to concentrate and love the music again.


Yep. What I do is breathe deeply and concentrate on that. Any music I hear is the slow/peaceful hymns in my head, and that does the most to get me calmed down.


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## Janspe (Nov 10, 2012)

SONNET CLV said:


> I still view music as an adventurous journey. I know folks who are pleased to have "seen" the world through their travels; I've "heard" the world through mine. I pursue it with an eagerness rather than an anxiousness. And that suits me just fine.


It's the adventurous journey exactly that can help with prolonged depression and anxiety. Did for me anyway.

A lot of people on this thread are talking about anxiety and/or depression as a passing mood that prevents enjoyement of music, mentioning that they have to do something else first to clear their head for music. I'm talking about clinical and diagnosed mental health issues, things that don't just _go away_ - and having gone through that, I can tell you that music was an incredible source of comfort and joy. When one is barely managing through daily life, it's incredible how much strength and energy one can derive from music. And it's not just soothing or calming music, but the whole spectrum. Classical music, in my opinion, contains the whole world in a way, and as such it can provide an incredibly enriching adventure to emabark upon, even when everything else seems gray and hopeless.

I'm not saying that there's anything universal about my experience, but I do believe that art in general should be used more as a tool for helping people struggling with mental health issues. I hasten to add that not as the _only_ tool, but as a part of a bigger whole.


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## Captainnumber36 (Jan 19, 2017)

Janspe said:


> It's the adventurous journey exactly that can help with prolonged depression and anxiety. Did for me anyway.
> 
> A lot of people on this thread are talking about anxiety and/or depression as a passing mood that prevents enjoyement of music, mentioning that they have to do something else first to clear their head for music. I'm talking about clinical and diagnosed mental health issues, things that don't just _go away_ - and having gone through that, I can tell you that music was an incredible source of comfort and joy. When one is barely managing through daily life, it's incredible how much strength and energy one can derive from music. And it's not just soothing or calming music, but the whole spectrum. Classical music, in my opinion, contains the whole world in a way, and as such it can provide an incredibly enriching adventure to emabark upon, even when everything else seems gray and hopeless.
> 
> I'm not saying that there's anything universal about my experience, but I do believe that art in general should be used more as a tool for helping people struggling with mental health issues. I hasten to add that not as the _only_ tool, but as a part of a bigger whole.


Agreed. ***Thumbs Up***


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