Mental health problems seem to have ceased to be a taboo topic in our society recently. According to different studies, anxiety It is one of the most common conditions among Spanish citizens, including young people and adolescents.
The latest data from 2023 from the Ministry of Health indicated that anxiety affects 6.7% of the population and that it affects women almost twice as much as men, specifically 8.8% compared to 4.5%. Furthermore, last year it was also known that Spain is the country with the highest consumption of benzodiazepines, an anti-anxiety medication, according to data from the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB).
Although the use of medicine can help to a certain extent with this mental health problem, there are many other factors that would have to improve in a person’s life to mitigate, reduce or eliminate it, something complicated. The truth is that there are alternatives to this, in addition to resorting to psychologists or psychiatristsand different experts have investigated, and are investigating, what the best options against anxiety and for its prevention may be.
Some of the best known could be meditation, sports, breathing exercises, aromatherapy, good sleep behavior, etc. Another remedy that has been studied in recent years has been music therapy. As indicated by the researchers of a study carried out by the University of Pennsylvania, there are specific songs that can help us relax and be as effective as anti-anxiety drugs.
This research took into account 157 patients who were played songs such as ‘Someone like you’ by Adele, ‘Strawberry Swing, Porcelain’ by Moby or Canzoneta Sull’aria by Mozart. Although all of them produce a feeling of calm, only one, not mentioned in the previous examples, has been considered to be can help calm anxiety. This is the song ‘Weightless‘, by the band Marconi Union.
The biometric data of the study showed that this melody, in addition to helping participants reduce their anxiety, indicated that they had been able to calm down more than when taking medication or when receiving a massage. Specifically, it is indicated that the song achieved 6% more effectiveness than the aforementioned techniques. Specifically, in the research there were two groups, one that was administered local anesthesia and the song was played for three minutes, and the other was administered midazolam. The results concluded that this music reduced anxiety levels by 65% and normal physiological levels at rest by 35%.
The song ‘Weightless’, by the band Marconi Union, It lasts about eight minutes and is composed with soft piano and guitar melodieswithout having any repeated part, something that causes the brain to not have the need to try to guess what is going to sound. Richard Talbot, a member of Marconi Unión, said: “It was fascinating to work with a therapist to learn how and why certain sounds affect people’s moods. “I always knew the power of music, but previously we wrote using our intuitions.”
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