Music is a great help to teenagers with anxiety

Music has been such a huge help in my life. It has continuously helped me get over my stress from family and school. It keeps me stable and calm.

People who experience anxiety will often at times feel worried, nervous, or uneasy, typically due to an imminent event or something that comes with an uncertain outcome. Anxiety breaks up into several different categories with their own symptoms, but typically, anxiety makes a person feel on edge, experience insomnia and have a shortness of breath.

When I suffer through anxiety, it doesn’t just go on for a minute or two, it goes on for hours or even longer. It feels like torture. I start feeling like I’m drowning and I can’t breathe. My heart rate is rapid and I start worrying about things. Sometimes it’s about little things like if I’m going fail my teammates while I pitch to the batter, or sometimes I suddenly may feel as though everyone single one of my friends hate me because I am not hanging out with them enough. When these anxieties appear, it is very hard for me to calm down. I have to tell myself that whatever I’m worried about will be fine and I’ll do just great, but it just gets worse and I go down a spiral of putting myself down all the time.

My friends saw me go through anxiety and have suggested breathing techniques, but after two to three weeks of trying, I found they had no benefit for me. I’d heard that doctors who treat patients with anxiety disorders have recommended that their patients listen to music once a day if none of the other solutions seem to work. So, I then decided that I was going to turn to music. I’ve found that no matter what type of music that I was listening to, it really seemed to calm my stress down.

Music for me is like a medication that I take every day when I experience anxiety or have a panic attack, which can feel like drowning and also a pit to my stomach feeling. For me listening to music or having it on me is a helpful way to distract me from fearing things or worrying about things without knowing the reason for it.

This also comes in handy at school in particular. I think it’s great that teachers allow their students to listen to music during while they do tests, exams and during work because it’s one positive way of really relieving their stress. On the other hand, some teachers prefer to have their students put the devices in a box. I don’t believe that’s really helpful because it builds more stress within the students.

If teachers consider phones a problem, it’s best that they and the students come up with a solution, like maybe just allow the students to listen to music while they work and if they aren’t doing that then it’s fair enough for the teachers use the “Phone-box.”

In my class, our teacher sets some fair rules for everyone to follow and agree with. I’ve asked other students whether music helps them with their stress or not. Most have answered that music has been an automatic thing–they’re always listening to music wherever they are. Almost half the class says that they listen to music to mellow out and a few other students say that they listen to music for both and also stress. They point out that it is helpful to listen to music in the morning, play music while eating breakfast, cleaning and even before going to bed.   

Music is just one of the many solutions to relieving stress. I used to think that I was the only one who had to deal with anxiety and panic attacks but I’ve learned that it is 10 percent of teenagers and 40 percent of Adults suffer from anxiety. Considering how common anxiety is, it seems like music can really help a lot of people, so let’s encourage it!  

Cover Image: Health Articles Magazine