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Before criticizing this post, it is pertinent to remind you that whatever has an advantage is very much likely to have a disadvantage also.

Overtime, we have come to find joy in listening to music as it gives us respite in sad times and aids us in completing tasks and sometimes it’s a source of inspiration. What ever might be the trouble, music seems to be just what you need to calm down your nerves.

This was why Friedrich Nietzsche was of the view that ” without music, life would be a mistake”. But surprisingly, listening to music has its injuries some of which i have analysed below:

1. Hearing Damage

Physiologically, any music played too long and loud is bad for you. Our hearing can be destroyed by this kind of exposure. One in six American teenager already has damaged hearing through excessive use of headphones at high volumes.

According to a recent study by McMasters’s Department of Psychology, Neuroscience and Behavior, Canada, “a growing percentage of teens are engaging in risky listening habits”-in large part due to the growing trend of shutting the world out through blasting headphones. One quarter of the 170 kids examined were experiencing symptoms of early-onset tinnitus– a chronic unceasing ringing in the ears, that originally doesn’t appear in adults until age 50.

2. Listening To Sad Music Could Be Detrimental

Because music transmit emotions, it is only logical to say that it may not be physiologically advisable listening to a lot of music that is made up of negative emotions.

Example of such could be any of Adele’s songs which are in any doubt beautiful. Having said that, a 2015 study wanted to better understand if listening to music on your own can be a form of “self-regulation”, and in a complete shock, it was concluded that listening to sad music all the time can indeed have a negative effect on mental health. The study also affirmed that listening to music affects the Medical Prefrontal Cortex (mPFC) with those using sad music to reflect on their emotion having higher levels of anxiety and neuroticism than those who don’t.

3. Hormonal Secretions

In a study conducted by Julie  Korenberg of the United States University of Utah, it was gathered that playing highly stimulating music (fast tempo, dramatic content) such as rock music for long period is probably not healthy because it leads to cortisol and nor-adrenaline secretion-without the associated flight or fight action. Long term secretions of these hormones leading to an overdose, posses a lot of health problems which ,may include depression and sexual dysfunction.

4. Music and Food

A shockingly extensive study conducted by the New York School of Medicine, which examined all product endorsements by major pop stars between 2000 and 2014, had literally nothing good to say in its findings: Food and beverage companies spend around $2 billion per year on ads which specifically target youth.

The vast majority of products endorsed were high-calorie, sweetened soft drinks or “nutrient-poor” food products. This being the case, one would expect an overall rise in child and teen obesity over this time period—which is exactly what another independent study found. Covering 1999–2012, the study of children and teens by Wake Forest and University of North Carolina researchers concluded that “all classes of obesity have increased over the last 14 years”.

5. Music Can Significantly Distract Us While Driving

A 2013 study carried out by Brodsky and Slor which focused on teenagers and young adults explained how driving is affected by music. Drivers were tested while listening to their own choice of music and silence or “safe” music provided by the researchers. As you would guess, their own music was preferred but it proved to be more distracting. Drivers were reported to have made more mistakes and drove more aggressively when listening to their own choice of music.

6. Music Can Disrupt Studying and Work Performance

In a study conducted by the University of Wales, researchers examined the ability of subjects to recall information while being exposed to different sounds. Five different conditions were employed and subjects were found to have performed most poorly when listening to music (any music-whether they liked it or not).

They performed best in silent conditions. In the same vein, readers of certain age may recall something called the “mozart effect” a term generated by similar researchers in the 1990’s which suggested that some types of music can increase or decrease concentration.

7. Repetition

If you were forced to listen to your favorite song for 7 days straight, your relationship with it would change. It can be confirmed that this is the reason  shop staff suffer so much at Christmas time. Noise that can’t be controlled is stressful, so this kind of repetition is entirely not helpful and too much stress can lead to stroke.

8. Music Can Negatively Affect Your Relationship

This is one aspect parents and young people will have to take into consideration.

A 2006 study of almost 1,500 teens found that teens who heavily listen to music featuring such subject matter as {kissing and sex}, are most likely to start having sex earlier than those who did not, by a margin of almost two to one.

According to the study, “we think that (it) really lowers kid’s inhibitions and making them less thoughtful” in terms of their decisions. A latter study carried out on teen girls confirmed the likely-hood that frequent exposure to such music as mentioned earlier may not only influence how they see themselves but also could affect their ability to have healthy relationships.

9. The Relationship Between Ageing and Songs About Growing Old

In what must have been the single most depressing study of its kind to conduct, researchers from the Anglia Rustin University in Cambridge, England, analyzed 76 songs that invoke the topic of aging. It was found, of course, that the average emotion expressed toward the subject are overwhelmingly negative, generally associating growing old with such heartwarming concepts as weakness, dependence, loneliness, and death.

This prompted lead study author Jacinta Kelly to observe, “What we’re trying to get across is that this kind of bitterness or hostility is promoted or conveyed and it’s not a trivial thing to explore”. This study confirmed that people who listen to these kind of song are always reluctant to seek medical attention.

10. Music can Actually kill You

Jack Essex killed by lorry
cavendish

In a sad conclusion, it has been recorded that many young teenagers have lost their lives to the modern technology of headphones. On of such instances was an accident that occurred in Manchester, United Kingdom where a teenager Jack Essex was knocked down by a 7.7 tonne lorry while crossing a busy road. According to PC Janine Kerr “I cannot rule out the fact that maybe he was distracted by the wearing of the head phones at the time” May his soul continue to rest in peace!

Please note, this article is not to say that music isn’t good for us but that we should listen to music while considering our health at the same time!

 

 
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