Songs to relieve depression

There has never been a universal "depression cure song list", but it has been verified by clinical psychology research and the real body experience of tens of millions of depressed friends. Music that matches your personal emotional rhythm and avoids traumatic trigger points can indeed be used as an effective auxiliary method in addition to formal treatment for depression, helping you to smoothly get through the low mood period and reduce the pain of acute attacks.

Last year, I met a patient with moderate depression who was taking medication. He had a special folder called "Life-saving Playlist" in his cell phone memo. There were three songs in total: "The Flowers in the South of the City Have Bloomed", a recording of the soy milk seller's voice downstairs, and the elementary school bell. She told me that every time she was about to have a breathless panic attack, she would plug in her headphones and listen to these three songs, and she would be able to calm down in as little as 15 minutes. ”

Regarding "what songs to listen to when you are depressed", academic circles have actually been arguing for many years. Researchers in the field of positive psychology conducted controlled experiments in the early years, allowing subjects with mild depression to listen to bright music in a major key and with a rhythm of about 120BPM for 30 minutes every day. After two weeks, the subjects' Hamilton Depression Scale scores dropped by an average of 4 points, which indeed verified the positive intervention effect. However, most counselors who provide emotion-focused therapy do not recognize this "standardized solution": you are constantly attacking yourself because you "can't be happy no matter what", and you turn around and have "Sunshine Rainbow Little White Horse" stuffed in your ears. On the contrary, it is easier to feel that "the whole world is forcing me to be happy, I can't even be happy, I am too useless", which in vain increases internal friction. There was a friend of Yu who was forced to listen to a bunch of "Healing Music" by his friends. After listening to it, he immediately smashed his headphones. He just lay down and didn't want to move. After that, he didn't say a word for three days.

To be honest, I have seen too many people recommending songs to Yu You indiscriminately, saying something like "I just want to stop after listening to it", and it doesn't hurt to just stand and talk. Among the hundreds of depressed friends I have come into contact with, very few of them really rely on "positive energy playlists" to recover. Instead, most of them rely on some seemingly unrelated sounds: someone listened to Jay Chou's "Sunny Day" on a loop, saying that it was the song played on the school radio when he confessed his love at the age of 16. ； Someone specially recorded the sound of the cat snoring at home, and when he felt depressed, he would hold his phone and listen to it. ； There is also a young man who is a programmer. The most effective thing is the white noise of typing code on a mechanical keyboard. When he listens to it, he feels, "I can still work normally, I am not useless."

In fact, to be honest, there aren’t that many rules when it comes to song selection. The core is just one: don’t get involved with your own emotions. If you are so stuck in your emotions that you can't even cry, don't insist on listening to inspirational songs. Find those that can match your current mood. It doesn't matter if it's a bitter love song, post-rock, or pure noise. If you cry, half the battle will be won. When you have cried enough and feel that the stone in your chest has loosened a little, you can change to something that can give you a little boost. It doesn’t have to be something with positive energy. Some people can get excited by listening to the suona of Secondhand Rose, some can laugh when listening to the BGM of "Tom and Jerry", and some people like to listen to the noise of the wet market, which feels like fireworks. These all count.

But one thing must be said before: Don’t think that listening to music can replace taking medicine or psychological counseling. It's like the umbrella in your hand on a rainy day. It can help you avoid getting wet, but it can't cure the cold you've caught from the cold. Take medicine when you need to take medicine as prescribed by the doctor, and get consultation when you need to. Music is just an auxiliary tool to help you feel better. Don't add too much unnecessary aura to it.

A while ago, I came across a playlist shared by a friend of mine. The first song was an excerpt from a Henan opera that his grandma had saved for more than ten years. He said that when he was a child, his grandma always turned on the radio and played it to cook. Now every time he listens to it when he is depressed, he can still think of his grandma holding steamed pumpkin and telling him to wash his hands and eat. It is more effective than any "healing song" on the ranking list. You see, the best song is the one that can capture your emotions. There is no unified standard.