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David Becker
Shannon Francis
English 111
19 February 2015
Music Saves Lives
Suicide does not end the possibility of life getting worse, suicide eliminates the
possibility of it ever getting better. This saying was created by Carlos Enrique for his Instagram
account called The Suicide Sign. The Instagram account has grown to have over 43 thousand
followers. On this account he has many different musical artists holding up his famous sign in
support of suicide prevention. He has all of these artist hold up the sign because their bands and
their music connect with their fans who are struggling with depression and suicidal thoughts.
Jonny Depp once said that, Music touches us emotionally, where words alone cant. (Depp)
Music helps us through our toughest and darkest times because everyone can connect with music
on some sort of level.
In the past when a doctor has diagnosed a patient with some sort of anxiety or depression
they used to prescribe them different medications to help them deal with what they are going
through. Recently however doctors have been also using music therapy in their treatments to
patients who are struggling with depression. Music Therapy is defined by the American Music
Therapy Association, as the clinical and evidence base use of music interventions to accomplish
individualized goals within a therapeutic relationship by a credentialed professional who has
completed an approved music therapy program. The American Music Association also says,

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music therapy is a well-established health program and it is used therapeutically to address an
individual's physical, emotional, cognitive, and social needs. Music therapy helps the patients
deal with the large amount of stress that they are dealing with in their life which effects the
patients depression.
In one study they took thirty adolescents around the age of eighteen that were diagnosed
with having depression. The patients then listened to fifteen minutes of uplifting rock music
songs that included Strait Up by Paula Abdul, Vision of Love by Mariah Carey, and Keep
the Faith by Michael Jackson. All of the participants wore headphones while listening to music.
The results of the experiment were that the participants who listened to music for fifteen minutes
a day showed positive results and less stress. This experiment shows that music can help manage
someones stress which helps them to deal with their depression.
Another study was conducted with college students on their campus at California State
University. The researchers asked the students to choose a song to show to the class and then
after they got done listening to it they would have to take a nine question survey. The researchers
conducted this experiment for four years. The constant listening and discussion of music showed
that overall stress levels decreased throughout all of the subjects during those four years. This
shows that listening to music can also give us health benefits because we are no longer affected
by the stress that causes some of our health problems. They recommend that you listen to at least
ten minutes of music to help with your stress however the effects of listening to music can be felt
in as little as six minutes. Music Therapy cannot help every single person unfortunately. Just like
some people do not receive certain medications well it is the same with Music Therapy. When
some people listen to music it has the possibility to actually increase their stress level. It also has
the possibility to have no effect at all on the patient.

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Music Therapy does not only have the power to help with stress it also has the power to
help patients who struggle with depression. Music therapy alone is effective but it is not the most
effective way to care for people with depression. In an experiment the researchers wanted test the
effectiveness of music therapy with standard depression care compared to just standard
depression care in middle aged working adults. The researchers randomly split the test group into
two groups. In one group they only received standard depression care which consisted of twenty
bi-weekly sessions and a follow up visit at three months and at six months. The other group was
given this but they also received Music Therapy. The results of the experiment were that the test
group that had standard depression care with Music Therapy showed a significantly higher
response rate then the other test group. This experiment proves that Music Therapy has specific
qualities that give the treatment what it needs to help the patients in the best way possible.
Music is a wonderful thing that we have been blessed with. There are a million different
things to listen to and new songs, albums, styles, and genres are being created each and every
day. Everyone likes music because it has something to offer to every single person in the world.
No matter how different you think you are when you find what you like soon after you will find
someone who likes the exact same thing as you do. Music connects with us in different ways. It
excites us, makes us cry, and heals our soul. Music saves lives; it saves lives because it speaks to
people about what they are going through. New Music Therapy research is showing even more
evidence of how it saves lives. Listen to music, find what makes you happy, and dont let anyone
tell you how or what to listen to ever again because it is not their music that helps you, it is
yours.

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Works Cited
Erkkil, Jaakko, Marko Punkanen, Christian Gold, and Mauno Vanhala. "Individual
Music Therapy for Depression: Randomised Controlled Trial." 23 July 2011. Print.
Ferrer, Eileen Lew. "Playing Music to Relieve Stress in a College Classroom
Environment."College Student Journal 1 Sept. 2014. Print.
Feild, Tiffany, and Nancy Jones. "MASSAGE AND MUSIC THERAPIES ATTENUATE
FRONTAL EEG ASYMMETRY IN DEPRESSED ADOLESCENTS." 1 Jan. 1999. Print.