A therapist and wellness expert explained how listening to your favorite throwback tunes could actually be your saving grace in stressful situations.
We all have varied tactics and methods for dealing with mental health, with some largely healthier than others. But as it turns out, there could be a way to alleviate stress by tapping into a process known as neural nostalgia. That’s right, listening to your teenage anthems could save your adult sanity.
What is neural nostalgia?
The concept of neural nostalgia was thrust into the light on social media following a TikTok from counseling guru Nikkie (@nikkiroy.collection). Her video has since garnered over 1.3 million views and upwards of 189k likes.
“There is a thing called neural nostalgia where researchers are actually finding that the music we listen to as teenagers binds to our brains differently than anything we are going to listen to as adults,” she explained. “So literally one of the best coping skills and things I still do myself is to listen to the music you love to listen to as a teenager. Punk rock, Pitbull, whatever. Listen to that, as it actually helps us get out of our heads and connect to ourselves.”
Interestingly, brain imaging in studies shows us that our brains release a flourish of happy chemicals when we listen to a song we enjoy.
#stitch with @Chelsie Ashley
But it also goes deeper than mere brain chemistry and into our complex sense of self. Speaking to Slate, Daniel Levitin, the author of This Is Your Brain on Music: The Science of a Human Obsession, said that our teenage years walk hand in hand with our identity later in life.
“We are discovering music on our own for the first time when we’re young,” he explained. “Often through our friends. We listen to the music they listen to as a badge, as a way of belonging to a certain social group. That melds the music to our sense of identity.”
Personal music choice is a complicated matter
Though most of Nikkie’s followers saw the logic behind neural nostalgia, some were concerned that their favorite music as teenagers was actually the issue.
One person said: “But what if I spent my teens listening to emo music? Now I’m just perpetually sad.”]
“But I was SO depressed in high school,” another person said, as a third questioned, “Me blaring old Avril Lavigne albums lol.”
Someone else quipped: “Omg this makes SO MUCH SENSE!!! I am probably my happiest when in the car blasting early 2000’s.”
