The Healing Power of Music When You Need Relief
Music turns relief into something you can hear, feel, and breathe with
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The Healing Power of Music When You Need Relief
Think of music as a remote control for your nervous system.
You cannot press one button and erase stress, pain, or a bad night of sleep. But the right music can help turn the volume down.
Music seems to help through several pathways: it can shift attention away from pain, reduce mental tension, support relaxation, and help your body move out of “fight-or-flight” mode and closer to a calmer state.
What the Data Shows
A 2025 systematic review found that music therapy had a moderate effect on reducing anxiety symptoms, especially when the music was receptive or combined with more active approaches.1
A 2025 scoping review in JMIR Mental Health found that music interventions can improve physiological stress markers, including cortisol, heart rate variability, and blood pressure, although effects vary depending on the person and the context.2
A 2025 systematic review and meta-analysis found that music therapy significantly reduced chronic pain and also improved depression in adults living with persistent pain.3
And a 2024 systematic review and meta-analysis found that music interventions could improve subjective sleep quality, suggesting that music may be a low-cost, low-risk way to help some adults sleep better.4
So music is one of the simplest tools you can use to help regulate stress, pain, anxiety, and sleep—all of which shape how you feel every day.
Your Practical Health Tip
Put on 10-20 minutes of calming, enjoyable music when you feel stressed, before bed, or during a painful flare-up.
And here I share my go-to song, I hope it helps you:
See you tomorrow for your next 1-Minute Health Tip.
To your zenith within,
Sara Redondo, MD, MS
References:
de Witte M, Aalbers S, Vink A, Friederichs S, Knapen A, Pelgrim T, et al. Music therapy for the treatment of anxiety: a systematic review with multilevel meta-analyses. EClinicalMedicine. 2025;84:103293. doi:10.1016/j.eclinm.2025.103293.
Saskovets M, Saponkova I, Liang Z. Effects of sound interventions on the mental stress response in adults: scoping review. JMIR Ment Health. 2025;12:e69120. doi:10.2196/69120.
Chen S, Yuan Q, Wang C, Ye J, Yang L. The effect of music therapy for patients with chronic pain: systematic review and meta-analysis. BMC Psychol. 2025;13(1):455. doi:10.1186/s40359-025-02643-x.
Zhao N, Lund HN, Jespersen KV. A systematic review and meta-analysis of music interventions to improve sleep in adults with mental health problems. Eur Psychiatry. 2024;67(1):e62. doi:10.1192/j.eurpsy.2024.1773.