Composers, writers, and musicians craft music to purposefully make you feel a certain way. In the 18th and 19th centuries, they had composers such as Beethoven and Bach, who both have very impactful music to this day. Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony is supposed to symbolize fate knocking at the door. Now, however, the messages are not as hidden, seeing as instrumental music is now mainly used in an environment that does not require them to pay attention to the background music (such as an office setting). Do you think that if they had radios during the Victorian era, they would play classical music all the time?

In a course taught at the University of Central Florida, Kiminobu Sugaya and Ayako Yonetani mention some of the physical and mental impacts that any type of music has on us. Music alone can boost your immune system, make you better at communicating, reduce seizures, change your ability to perceive time, and even assist in repairing brain damage. In your nucleus accumbens (the part of your brain that seeks pleasure and plays a big role in addiction, it responds to music of all kinds the same exact way that it would react to cocaine).

As we all know, music obviously has effects on our mood and emotions. In almost every single study you can find on music therapy on the World Wide Web, you will most likely find the same result. Music can help with symptoms of both anxiety and depression. It can actually change almost every human emotion to the complete opposite. Think about if one week, you only listened to slow, sad ballads as soon as you got up. Then, the week after, you only listened to upbeat music. You may have a completely different day than expected.

Next time you listen to your favorite song, think about how it may affect you right now and in the future. That song that you are playing on repeat right now may have the same affect on your brain as cocaine.. That song that you are playing on repeat right now may save your life.