Musically active people suffer more from depression and anxiety: Study

Musicians and musically active people seem to suffer more often from depression and anxiety disorders, a new study reports.

An international research team involving the Max Planck Institute for Empirical Aesthetics (MPIEA) in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, examined the relationship between making music and mental health in detail.

The researchers found that musically active participants reported more frequent depressive, burnout, and psychotic symptoms than participants who did not make music.

The results of this study were recently published in the open-access journal Translational Psychiatry.

In a large population study, the scientists were able to demonstrate a link between musical engagement and mental health problems for the first time in 2019. About 10,500 Swedish participants provided information about both their musical engagement and their mental health.

Since the study participants were twins, the research team was able to account for familial influences. These influences include both genes and the family environment during childhood. Twins usually grow up at the same time in the same household. Moreover, they have completely or at least partially the same genes—depending on whether they are monozygotic or dizygotic twins.

The study debunks what some people commonly believe that making music is good for their mental health.

Islam has forbidden any form of music that encourages sin and weakens a believer’s faith.

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