How Music & Movies Can Help with our Wellbeing

With grateful thanks to our blogger Annabelle.

18 March 2024

Picture this. You’ve come home after a long, hard day of work or school and see your laptop/tablet and headphones. You smile and set everything up to de-stress, relax and find a way to… escape from reality.

Putting on your favourite playlist or watching a favourite tv show can actually help you mentally. Not just feeling like you’re escaping your troubles. According to the JED Foundation (A Mental Health charity in the US) The average teen spends 2.5 hours per day listening to music, and over half of young adults, ages 18 to 29, report streaming music every day (compared to 24% of all adults). (The Jed Foundation, n.d.) Not only can it distract you from whatever troubles you’re facing right now (being 2024 it could by anything) music can also help you to distress. People who are more likely to listen to classical music actually show lesser levels of anxiety. When you listen to your favourite song or artists your brain releases more Dopamine (the feel good chemical.)

Mind the mental health charity in the UK did a study and it showed that the people working there had a 9% increase of Dopamine when listening to their favourite songs (Ozorio, 2019). Music can also help get the feelings out that you could be struggling to face: (A breakup, breakdown of family, friendships or death of a loved one to name a few.) by listening to the lyrics more it can help ever more if you relate to what you are hearing.

But!! Music isn’t the only thing that helps, movies can too!!

Movies can help distract you and transport you to a different world from the comfort of your front room or bedroom, which can help you to release your emotions in a better, easier way. Also don’t forget all movies are stories so one way or another when you find the right one you’ll be able to relate to what’s going on. “For thousands of years, knowledge and wisdom have been passed down through the art of story-telling. Stories offer us different perspectives and help us understand and make sense of the world. For thousands of years, knowledge and wisdom have been passed down through the art of story-telling. Stories offer us different perspectives and help us understand and make sense of the world.” (www.linkedin.com, n.d.)

Whenever I have a bad day I usually switch on Disney+ and watch Winnie The Pooh as that was a childhood classic for me, or go to YouTube and switch on Power Rangers or Avengers on Disney+ and imagine that I’m right beside them saving the world. Or if I really want a Nostalgia trip, switch on Netflix and watch my fav Studio Ghibli movies (usually Ponyo, The Cat Returns or Howl’s Moving Castle.) Music wise, however I’m feeling one boyband always helps me: BTS. Mic Drop, Permission To Dance and Idol for when I want to dance, Untold Truth, Sea and Young Forever for when I want to cry and We Are Bulletproof The Eternal, Love Myself and Mikrokosmos for when I need to pick myself up or when I feel loved and want to share that feeling. As well as This is Me from the Greatest Showman because as an Autistic girl who’s LGBTQIA+ this song reminds me that I’m not alone and free to be who I truly am.

So whether we listen to Queen, Elton John, Heavy Metal, KPop (like me) or anything else in-between and watch Crime Dramas, EastEnders or want to heal our inner child’s, we all have different ways to heal our minds and help us find a way to face tomorrow.

The Jed Foundation. (n.d.). How Music Can Improve Your Mental Health. [online] Available at: https://jedfoundation.org/resource/how-music-can-improve-your-mental-health/#:~:text=Music%20can%20help%20you%20feel%20your%20feelings. Accessed 12th March 2024.
Ozorio, T. (2019). Why music is great for your mental health | Mind, the mental health charity – help for mental health problems. [online] Mind.org.uk. Available at: https://www.mind.org.uk/information-support/your-stories/why-music-is-great-for-your-mental-health/. Accessed 12th March 2024.
linkedin.com. (n.d.). How Watching Movies Can Benefit Our Mental Health. [online] Available at: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/how-watching-movies-can-benefit-our-mental-health-daniel-mkilanya#:~:text=Watching%20movies%20encourages%20emotional%20release.&text=This%20release%20of%20emotions%20can [Accessed 12 Mar. 2024]