3 Surprising Healing Powers Of Sad Music

Contrary to popular belief, sad music doesn't serve to make you sad—it can actually make you feel better.

By Mark Travers, Ph.D. | May 28, 2024

Imagine Emma, who comes home after a long and stressful day at work, dealing with tight deadlines and difficult conversations with her manager—caught up in a cycle of stress and overthinking. At the end of the day, after a nice warm shower, she tunes in to her evergreen playlist of "sad songs." As the lyrics of one particular song fill the room, Emma can't help but feel deeply understood and connected in the moment and, at last, she feels at peace with her situation in the knowledge, "Oh, this happens to everyone, thank god I am not the only one having a bad day."

Beyond providing solace during challenging times like breakups, sad songs offer several benefits in everyday life. That sad music is exclusively for sorrowful individuals is a misconception, as it can be particularly beneficial for those with sound mental well-being. Here are three reasons why.

1. Sad Music Makes Us Feel Connected

Research suggests that listening to sad music can foster a sense of empathy, connectedness and a feeling of being less lonely. Despite the sadness it represents, sad music can have a calming effect, offering listeners a sense of peace and solace in knowing that their feelings are universal.

According to one study, listening to sad music can offer reassurance, aid in achieving emotional closure and mood regulation, allow for the expression of feelings and foster emotional connections with the composer or fellow listeners. This sense of shared experience can make listeners feel part of a larger human experience, reducing feelings of isolation.

Sad music enables listeners to gain insight into their feelings, offering an opportunity for exploring and understanding conveyed emotions, this is especially true for listeners with high empathy.

2. Sad Music Helps Overcome Sadness

Contrary to what one might expect, engaging with sad music can actually help individuals overcome their sadness. Most people listen to sad music when facing difficult situations or challenging times in life, such as grieving the loss of a loved one or recovering from a recent heartache.

According to a 2016 study, sad music can serve as a means of mood regulation by providing a cathartic release for negative emotions and serving as a healthy coping mechanism. Sad music can provide a safe outlet for emotional release, offering listeners a way to let go of pent-up sadness.

Listening to sad music can also help listeners understand and articulate their emotions, leading to better mood regulation. Engaging with sad music can encourage introspection, assisting the listeners to reflect on and make sense of their personal experiences and feelings.

It is especially beneficial for psychologically healthy people to use it as a coping mechanism to process and cope with sadness. For individuals with mental health issues, listening to sad music can have mixed effects.

A 2019 study published in the Psychology of Music indicates that adolescents experiencing depression, low self-esteem and a tendency to ruminate may experience exacerbated symptoms when listening to sad music, particularly if they dwell on their negative emotions. Among nearly 1700 participants, approximately 17% reported feeling more saddened compared to their peers.

3. Sad Music Evokes Aesthetic Pleasure

Some individuals may find an undeniable beauty in sadness that can evoke a deep, aesthetic pleasure. The contemplative quality of a melancholy melody or the haunting beauty of a sad piano piece can stir a sense of serene tranquility, despite the bittersweet emotions it may evoke.

Sadness evoked by music is also found pleasurable when perceived as non-threatening, aesthetically pleasing and yielding psychological benefits like mood regulation and empathic feelings, often through recollection of past events and nostalgia.

According to one study, participants from an online survey reported that they derived pleasure from sad music in four scenarios:

1. When it coaxed their imagination
2. When it helped with emotional regulation
3. When it created empathy
4. When it provided safety from real-life implications

Nostalgia, not sadness, is the primary emotion evoked by sad music. Individuals with high empathy and low emotional stability tend to appreciate sad music more.

Sad music, with its complex emotional layers, can evoke a profound appreciation for the depth of human emotion. Sad music often prompts listeners to engage in a quiet reflection, exploring the nuances of their emotional landscape in a calm and contemplative manner.

Do you love listening to sad songs even when you're doing well? Take the Emotional Quotient Inventory to know more about your emotional self.

A similar version of this article can also be found on Forbes.com, here.