Music is everywhere and anywhere in our daily lives. We listen to the tunes on the radio, sing along to one of a kind television show theme songs like in Friends or The Big Bang Theory, and many play instruments, taking the role of making music into their own hands. Furthermore, if you look among the youth nowadays, I can most certainly guarantee that you will see a number of people with headphones listening to the one and only Spotify. Not many people realize how prominent music has become in our lives, and even less people know that it can have some remarkable benefits to our health.

Numerous studies have shown that music does indeed reduce stress and anxiety. College students are well known for being under astronomical amounts of stress with classes, studying, exams, and more. There are a great deal of students that benefit from listening to music while doing homework and studying because they are able to focus more with less stress and anxiety. In fact, research has also discovered that music improves our memory. There was a study conducted with stroke survivors where they listened to music and experienced an improvement in their memory and focused attention. The rhythm and melody in music contributes to our brains forming patterns that enrich and boost our memory. Listening to music may not result in having a precise photographic memory, but it can be helpful by simply improving memory. This proves to be an incredible tool for students because music can reduce their stress levels, anxiety, and improve their memory. All these factors combine together seamlessly to produce a healthier lifestyle and facilitate better studying sessions.

In addition, there has been a rising popularity in music therapy, which is the use of music to treat mental and physical issues. Several hospitals have music therapists that aid in patient health. There have been studies on children that have autism and received music therapy. These children showed an improvement in their social and communication skills. Autism spectrum disorder is quite common in the United States. According to the Autism and Developmental Disabilities Monitoring (ADDM) in 2018, an estimated 1 in 59 children have autism in the United States. Autism has been increasing rapidly since the 1980s when the statistics were reported as 1 in 10,000 and in the 1990s when it was 1 in 2,500. Although these numbers appear strikingly different, the likely cause of the increase in individuals with autism is due to increased knowledge and screening for this disorder in more recent years. Knowing that there is an increase in children with autism due to improved screening for it means that there is more uses for music therapy. The improvements that music therapy can provide is an appreciable accomplishment.

As was previously stated, music can reduce stress, reduce anxiety, improve memory, and improve social and communication skills. Given these points, we can see the excellent advantages music can provide. Next time you feel like giving your health a boost, give music a try because it has shown us its potential in being beneficial to our health.