According to new research, music might be as effective as exercise in improving mental health.

According to a meta-analysis of 26 research, singing, playing an instrument, or listening to music can enhance mental health and general well-being. Music, researchers discovered, can have the same good influence on mental health as exercise or weight reduction. The study's authors caution that further research is needed to determine why music might help our health.

Many of us do not realize how important music is in our lives. Music is all around us, whether we watch The Voice for weekly entertainment, listen to the finest country tunes on our commute to work, or even go to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Because songs are so important to so many people, researchers set out to see if listening to or composing music may have an effect on mental health—and what they discovered may surprise you.

New research indicates that any type of music, including singing, playing, or listening to music, can have the same good influence on well-being as exercise or losing weight. The meta-analysis, which was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association Network Open, looked at 26 prior studies that included 779 people from various nations, including Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

The self-reported 36-item short-form survey or a shorter 12-question version with short-form questions on the participant's quality of life was utilized in all 26 studies included in the research. The research looked at how different types and genres of music affect health, such as how gospel music may enhance heart health, how choral singing can improve quality of life and lung function in cancer survivors, and how performing arts can improve general health.

“It’s not surprising at all that music enhances emotional well-being. Music offers us rapid entry into a positive emotional space while providing a much-needed break from the stress of life,” says Scott Glassman, Psy.D, director of the Master of Applied Positive Psychology Program at Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine, and author of A Happier You. “Research shows that our brains release dopamine, the body’s natural reward chemical, when we listen to music, especially at the peak of our enjoyment.”

The data was then compared to previous studies that looked at the effects of non-pharmaceutical and medical treatments (such as exercise and weight loss) without a musical component on well-being. They discovered that musical treatments had the same effect on mental health as non-music therapies such as exercise. In addition, a subgroup analysis of eight trials revealed that incorporating music into current treatment improved mental health significantly more than getting treatment without music.

Casey Strenski, L.M.F.T., at Sameday Health psychotherapist, says she isn't shocked by the findings. In fact, she incorporates music into her therapy methods and has discovered that it helps her patients' mental health. Music, she continues, is processed in the amygdala, the area of the brain that governs emotion, and has been shown to improve mood and enjoyment.

“Music is beautifully rhythmic and engages a part of the brain in the cerebral cortex called the neocortex. It can be used to relax the brain and alter mood since the neocortex is the area of the brain responsible for cognition and perception,” she says. “Flow state is often achieved when one is immersed in their favorite song, which further can help someone get into their zone or place of pleasure or happiness.”

Though there are numerous hypotheses about what makes music so healthy for our mental health, specialists aren't sure what it is about music that makes it so wonderful for us—especially our brains. However, we do know anecdotally that it may affect mood.

“Music can be a great way to create joy in behaviors that might not always feel exciting. A great soundtrack can make a boring walk more exciting, a stressful morning more mellow, and give a hard situation some levity,” says Christine Celio, P.h.D., clinical psychologist and Calibrate emotional health expert. “There is a reason why there is that getting stuff done montage in movies—they create a narrative around motivation that many of us need to push forward.”

Glassman, for example, suggests thinking about how you feel when you workout with music vs when you don't. According to recent research, individuals get more out of their workouts when they listen to music, he says.

“We should recognize too that the choice of putting on a favorite song increases the control we have over our mood. At a broader level, music shapes how we think about and remember our lives,” Glassman says. “It may be particularly effective at evoking positive lifetime memories, regardless of whether the music itself sounds positive or negative. Based on theories of well-being, the more immersed we can become in the music we listen to, the greater impact it will have on how we feel.”

More research, according to the study's authors, is needed to be certain. However, this is not the first time music has been linked to significant health advantages. According to an assessment issued by the World Health Organization, the arts can boost health and well-being. Furthermore, a new study from 2021 discovered that actively performing music, even later in life, may have a minor but favorable influence on cognitive performance and dementia risk.

“The study of mental health and its impacts is incredibly important, and the more we learn that we can apply to help people, the better,” Celio says. “Positive changes that impact the quality of life, be music or otherwise, are always encouraging. There isn’t a mood-boosting panacea, but the more tools we have to improve our mental well-being, the more likely we are going to find something that works for us.” She adds that what resonates with one person may not work for another, so options like meditating, journaling, and exercising are all other ways to help improve mental health.

So, the next time you're feeling low, try playing your favorite tunes on repeat. It could improve your quality of living, at the barest minimum, your disposition.