Research shows that 60-80% of all people are routinely low in Serotonin levels. Interestingly, women represent a higher percentage than men on average.
Research also demonstrates that we can choose to alter our brain chemistry by what we eat, what we do, and what we think about. One of the things we can do to alter that chemistry is to listen to quality music we find enjoyable. Several studies have established the effectiveness of music in releasing serotonin to boost levels to affect our emotions, energy levels, thoughts, actions, and psychological states. Serotonin has also been found to help us in our exercise routines and even help prevent injuries and promote healing when injuries do occur.
“You can create the range of emotions, energy levels, and intellectual and creative functioning that you want. You can learn how to use what you do and do not do every day, and how you do it to create inner strength, hope, joy, mental alertness, and enthusiasm. By designing a life that keeps your biochemistry in balance you can maintain a state of optimal wellness, vitality, and performance. When you understand the optimal physiological requirements of your body operating at its best, you can design your lifestyle to provide the diet, exercise, behaviors, thoughts, scheduling, and environment to support and nourish this optimal state of functioning in your body.“ I believe that music should be one of the key elements of that environmental structure. (http://www.ei-resource.org/articles/ mental-and-emotional-problem-articles/easy-and-natural-ways-to-raise-low- serotonin-levels/)
Another study published at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21474494 set out to determine if music therapy was effective in the treatment of depression among working age adults. Seventy-nine individuals with an ICD-10 diagnosis of depression were randomized to receive individual music therapy, plus standard care (20 bi-weekly sessions), or standard care only, and followed up at baseline, at 3 months (after intervention) and at 6 months. Clinical measures included depression, anxiety, general functioning, quality of life, and alexithymia (emotional detachment).
Participants receiving music therapy plus standard care showed greater improvement than those receiving standard care only in depression symptoms, anxiety symptoms, and general functioning at 3-month follow-up. The response rate was significantly higher for the music therapy, plus standard care group than for the standard care only group.
CONCLUSIONS:
“Individual music therapy combined with standard care is effective for depression among working-age people with depression. The results of this study along with the previous research indicate that music therapy with its specific qualities is a valuable enhancement to established treatment practices.”
It is my belief that the effectiveness demonstrated in these studies is a result of the extra serotonin released when a pleasant state is experienced while listening to music.
Once again, music therapy has been proven to be very effective in either dealing with or assisting in the treatment of several medical conditions that have routinely been treated with medications. Again, I ask the question: would you rather depend on the chemistry of what you pay for at the drug store with all the accompanying possible side effects, or consider using a very inexpensive, safe, and enjoyable chemical composition that is naturally produced within your own brain. You decide!