Is a lack of music contributing to mental health problems in our teens?

[Om83]

So hear me out.. I have just rediscovered some long forgotten favourites from my youth… think 90’s indie, Brit pop, angst stuff.

the words really helped me through lots of emotions, big questions, - obviously Oasis have had a big resurgence recently so I’m a bit late to the party, but just found oasis little by little- ‘the wheels of your life have slowly fallen off…’ ‘I ask myself why am I really here’ and REM night swimming, so beautiful and reflective, just two example so many more. Stereophonics- completely forgot they existed!!. I know every word, every chord of these songs… the words were so much more meaningful back then and have seen me through tough times, like you could feel your angsty feelings and feel better that other people felt them too??

my kids are teens, and don’t really listen to music. We have it playing during dinner, on road trips, but other than the latest craze on TikTok not so much on their own. I feel so old saying it but most of the the music doesn’t seem to hit in the same way now and seems shallower somehow? (Obviously I am not the intended audience for much of it I realise!!)

it’s all about visuals now, less the audio. With music you are kinda alone sitting with your feelings and letting them go, whereas now they just scroll mindlessly through video clips. Music is powerful.

am I wrong to think that so much poor mental health in our kids is due to the fact there is less pouring their souls into music and lyrics to soothe and heal their troubles away??

No, I listened to all the 90s music you mention and I had serious mental health problems.

Plus teenagers do listen to music. Mine all do.

I have a 17 year old and she loves music as do many of her friends.
Going to festivals such as Reading or Glastonbury is frequently a post GCSEs thing for 16 year olds.
Many teens I know are also very much into musicals and they are open and proud about it (when I was a teenager it would have been a bit "naff" to say you like musicals).
I think it might just be your kids not so into music....

While it's not the full picture, yes I do think the lack of music in young people's lives does contribute to isolation and they're lacking an avenue for expression and for dealing with emotions that we had, as well as a sense of belonging.

That's not to say no DC are listening to music - both mine do, but they come from a household where music is a big deal, and haven't rebelled against their parents on that score!

But even then, their tastes are personal - I don't see their mates all getting into the same music together in the way our generations did.

Which is to be expected I suppose when everything is available to them at their fingertips! They don't have to seek it out, go to a party or be given a mix tape by a friend or wait for top of the pops to come on - they can just follow their own individual rabbit hole on YouTube or Spotify.

Interesting your children don’t listen to music really. Mine are in their twenties now but ALWAYS have music on and so do their friends. My nephews and nieces also seem to listen to loads of music.

I think it's not so much that DC aren't listening to music at all, it's more that their relation to it and consumption of it has changed, and its not nearly as central or important to youth culture as it was, so while some do still listen to music, many don't.

Youth culture isn't as heavily based around music these days as it was throughout the majority of the 20th century.

Look at the fashions for instance - the decades since 2000 are much harder to define by music-related fashion than they were before the rise of the internet.

Music died around 30 years ago. I despair at the state of current ‘popular’ music.

My 17 year old son loves music and always has it playing and Spotify. He loves reggae, the killers, oasis and some more up to date stuff I don't like and we've been to a few concerts and tribute bands.

Are his friends into much the same thing, or is it something he enjoys with you?

Mine is constantly listening to music. A wide range of it. It does help her to relax.

This is interesting too - have you noticed it's all soloists in the charts these days - bands seem to have died a death.

Sorry but teens do listen to music - my 20 and 17yo love music. The 17yo is even into collectable vinyls (incl 20 and 30 year anniversary editions of Green Day, Oasis etc who they’ve seen live with dad) and has a hole turntable and speaker set up in his room that he plans to take to uni. They also play - electric guitar, drums and keyboard. Seem very typical compared to their peers. 🤷🏻‍♀️

Yeah, I think this is kind of my thinking- that it isn’t such a big thing in youth culture today- they have other distractions that take precedence. They don’t have to seek it out as you say and the choice on Spotify to know what they like and what to listen to is so vast.

I know I completely generalised about kids not listening to music, it’s great to hear that many do. My kids do like music but it’s just not their ‘go to’ in the way it was for me, recording mix tapes from the charts on a Sunday, saving up for that album and playing it on repeat… there’s songs that we all love as a family but the only time that listen to it is as a family. It seems like for them music is just another back ground noise, not the main event.

Although I’m sure if I could have watched mind numbing TikTok’s I probably would have as a teen!!

That’s very cool - mine are a little younger at 13 and 15 so maybe they just need to get a bit older to get more into it. I love that your kids are into Oasis and Green day, but that was part of my point that the music was more meaningful back then and more to be gotten from it.

making a plan to blast my kids with Oasis at 7am tomorrow morning 😂

It’s unusual that they don’t listen to music. Maybe the parentally-imposed dinner-time music is putting them off.

My teens rack up hours on Spotify, they listen to more music than I do. One of them does have mental health issues, she listens to a lot of old music as well as current and plays an instrument so I don't see any correlation in my home.

As I said above. They do like music, it’s just not a big feature when they’re on their own as it seems they’d rather be watching videos on their devices and playing games online.

My post was more of an observation about the possible impact that a lack of outlets for emotions though music might have due to a cultural shift in in how free time is spent these days (and the quality of the music) rather than specific concern for my actually well adjusted kids and I will continue to parentally impose music on them as part of their musical education!!

We have Apple Music and the kids listen but I don’t know how they find their music if you know what I mean! They listen on headphones

Clearly you don't know any young people, all my group listens to music day in and out as do my kids etc etc

No.

Firstly, teenagers have access to far more music than they ever did. They no longer have to save up their pocket money to buy one album, or endure 20 songs they hate on the radio for every one they actually like, or hear the same 30 songs on the radio station playlist all the time. It has never been easier for teenagers to play music and to discover bands for themselves rather than being spoonfed bland mush from the top 40 or the Middle Class Mediocre White Boy Indie Chart all the time. Honestly, Oasis? Stereophonics? Very generic and really not very interesting. Definitely not the kind of thing that gave me an emotional outlet or sparked my creativity! I was desperately bored by those sorts of bands as a teen/student. If I’d had access to Spotify and Bandcamp and Dandelion Radio as a teenager I’d have been a lot happier.

Secondly, just because your teenagers don’t listen to music, that doesn’t mean teens in general don’t listen to music.

Thirdly, they might be put off by having to listen to the music you like during dinner and road trips etc. Nothing deters teens from liking something more than knowing it’s what their mum’s into.

I have heard this theory before. The theory was that was in the 20th century groups of young people used to use music genres to form their identity groups and politics around. Then as we all know once they get to mid-20s everyone chills out.

The idea now is that younger people are now forming their identities around social media for the first time and artists are now leaning into that to make their money i.e. Taylor Swift rather than relying on record sales. It is also very expensive for young people to actually see live music.

My 18yo listens to music constantly and has access to all music from all the ages in a way we could never have dreamt of. The likes of Last.fm mean there’s no one dominant sound but every day he discovers new albums and artists or deepens his interest in a genre he’s drawn to. I think maybe your two are too young yet but when it happens for them it will be as strong and meaningful as your own relation to music was but it will be different because it’s via the media of today. I get the nostalgia for the 20th waves of music culture but it wasn’t all great and there are ways it’s better now. Plus they’re more likely to listen to that than we were when we were busy rebelling against the past and spurning rival sub-cultures:

Should have seen the excitement of my teens when they found out that Iron Maiden and Megadeth are touring later this year! Music is still big in this household - what did worry me was they are listening to the same bands I did, but they seem to have come across a new crop of metal core bands they like along with the ancient bands.

Every generation says that. My mum would have said music died in the 70s. Almost as if we find the music of our own youth the best….

Good post OP. Terns need music. Well we all do.

10+ years in CAMHS, I can categorically say lack of music is not causing child and teen MH problems.

There are "big t trauma" type experiences such as abuse, growing up with parental domestic violence, addictions, mental ill health, incarceration, severe poverty, etc that always have contributed to poor MH in children, adolescents and adults and sadly always will.

There are some other things that did appear quite frequently as drivers of poor mental health that don't fit into those categories though. Such as...

The after effects of what we did to children and young people as a society during Covid
Helicopter/bulldozer parenting that does not allow children to develop independence, self efficacy and the confidence to solve their own problems. These parents are often chronically anxious themselves and lack the ability to tolerate their children experiencing any negative emotions. Negative emotions become something to be feared and "fixed" rather compassionately witnessed and tolerated as a normal part of life.
Permissively parented kids who never hear the word "no" once in a while tend to struggle more in school and with their peers.
Likewise, over-authoritarian parenting can be stifling, especially when academic achievement is prioritised over wellbeing and allowing children to be children.
Lack of outdoor time and free play
Social media - bullies can get to you 24/7 now, there's no respite
Unfettered access to smartphones and tablets too young, naive parents who don't monitor what kids are doing online
Kids never having to get used to boredom and making their own fun, requiring constant entertainment and often being chronically overstimulated
Academic pressure in school
Acrimonious divorces, conflict ridden co-parenting, difficult stepfamily dynamics
Absent fathers (including fathers who are physically present but checked out)