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??

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You’re just too cool for school@BauhausOfEliott.

I agree with the OP although I’m clearly at least a decade older. Kids might listen to music but they’re not into bands like we were and music doesn’t define them like it did us. It took time, effort and money to follow bands back in the day. Albums were expensive. I bought all the music magazines. Now kids just stream
stuff on the phones. No effort involved.

@THisbackwithavengeance I’m no doubt a lot older than most, but I remember the huge excitement of buying a single in my late childhood and youth, it mattered. Then buying an album and looking after your collection.

There were always a few people who were not fussy about music but I really loved radio 1 when it started having listened to Luxembourg and Caroline late at night - with difficulty, Having an easy to get pop station was great for me. By late teens I was off to gigs. My DH played in a band at uni and music made him tick too - but we never liked the same thing! I’m not sure most teens get this raw excitement now.

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.

My teens love the music I'm into because its good!
But music definitely doesn't play the same role in their friendships and 'identity' as it did for me as a teen.

My 14yo loves musicals as well - most of her Spotify playlist is made up of cast recordings.

My teen’s love of music and of many of his favourite artists absolutely comes from listening with me and his dad. We used to have a CD player in our car (retro!) and listen on long journeys. He’s always said that is where it started. He’s music obsessed and the 90s / Britpop and Manchester stuff is bis favourite. But he loves all sorts. There are a few bands that we go to see together when they tour, same with his dad.
His friends love music too. A few play in bands or DJ. At the parties they go to it’s a mix of old and new stuff played.
I love how much he loves music and that he seeks out stuff from across the years. I do think it helps with mental health and DS definitely uses it to help manage stress / concentration etc.

But that way you’re describing of teens defining themselves by music was only a thing for our generation and a couple more older generations. For the vast majority of history it wasn’t a thing and nor were teenagers even, in the sense we’re talking about them. So great though it was in some ways, it’s not this integral step in development that’s now missed and the MH issues are mainly caused by the range of factors the CAMHS PP posted , not by them not having to save up for albums. I think this is just the nostalgia for our youth thing. When our teens get older they may lament how their kids suffer from not playing Minecraft online together and being part of a discord group.

I have read studies suggesting that metal music has positive impacts on mental health: https://www.inspirahealthnetwork.org/news/healthy-living/surprising-mental-health-benefits-heavy-metal-music

Mine listen to loads of music. I'm only here for the Spotify premium payments.
They do listen to older music than me though. Their playlists cover all decades as they're discovering it for the first time. I'm a radio 1 person.
We're going to see Harry and Pitbull this summer, you can't be sad listening to Pitbull.

I think your kids are unusual in not enjoying music tbh. I don't see that as the norm among the kids I know. All three of mine enjoy music including live music.

I would actually say kids these days are exposed to a much broader ranger of music than we were, tiktok has introduced my kids to lots of songs from the 80s and 90s and we have family subscription to Spotify so they have almost every genre at their fingertips.

I think you're wrong to assume all modern music has no depth to it either. You're not listening to the right stuff if you believe that!

Ah, but what has been quite interesting is that my kids didn’t get their tastes from us - they were exposed to 90s music via Stranger Things, in particular, Back to the Future and other classic films (horror in the case of my older DD).

I think you’ll be surprised at just how much ‘old’ music, classic rock etc, they hear and imbibe - just not through the mediums we used to. My 17yo often belts out a classic in response to a phrase [I’m begging you to please just clean your room, led to a rendition of Mäneskin’s cover of ‘Beggin’ yesterday 🤦🏽‍♀️].

I think it’s just that their relationship with music hasn’t started via the Sunday night’s Radio 1 chart show or Top of the Pops/NME.

And contemporary music is very meaningful - the Lottery Winners write songs about depression/sertraline, ADHD, anxiety [listen to Letter to Myself and Worry for example are very upbeat and yet very deep] and mine are very into Tyler the Creator, apparently one of the world’s biggest acts just now [not my scene at all] and a gay black man who sings about being marginalised amongst many other themes. Just as our relationship with music was both personal and situated within the context of our generation’s lived experience… so is theirs.

Trust them. The love of music - making it, sharing it, listening to it - is a uniquely human phenomena. Just keep playing your music and you’ll open the door to conversations about theirs.

Youngsters still listen to music.
Many people who love music - including musicians - still have mental health problems.

God, yes. The spotify premium account that I pay a fortune for! My kids sometimes even make me play lists that they think I or their dad need to listen to. Going to go and look up Pitbull now…

You mention videos on devices. I think the internet is partially responsible for poor mental health in young (and older) people.

I agree, I'm old and the 90s were not the years of my youth more the 70s but it died at the end of the 90s. It had its day from the early 60s through to the late 90s

I would definitely agree that hearing my own teen angst reflected back in 90s music, and using that as a starting point to talk about my thoughts was a brilliant way to release my emotions. Gigs were cheap and moshing with a gang of mates was the best therapy.

I know all the people saying today’s music is rubbish , that’s what our parents said. When I was a teenager I liked new stuff and old stuff, my child likes new stuff and old stuff.

I work with children and they love music. They sing all the time, ask if I can put on music and make up dances.
My teenagers endlessly listen to music - some of which is from I was their age.

So no you’re wrong.

I've had three teens, ones now an adult, and they all listen to music all the time. My middle child has it on constantly I even got her a speaker for the shower as she'd blast it in there as well and didn't want her phone getting affected by the steam.

My kids both listened to music when they were teens and still do. Do you have some hard data that kids don't listen to as much music as previous generations? If it's true, then yes that is concerning.

Yeah my 13 year olds playlist in the car cracks me up. We go from modern stuff, to Eminem to George Michael to AC DC to Kate Bush 😂

My son does listen to music, as do his friends, but they don't listen to the same kind, which is fair enough, but means he does miss out on that group element.
There doesn't seem to be such a big range of genres and good stuff these days, but maybe I'm the wrong generation. I don't think teenagers listen to the radio like we did in the eighties, and I still mourn the loss of Top of The Pop, though it just wouldn't work anymore.

I am not sure that having access to all the music, the way our kids do now, actually helps you develop a love of music. There was something to be said for a limited number of albums that you knew inside out and loved deeply. I am not sure people listen to albums in the same way any more (at least I don't).

That said, one of mine is a huge music fan - listens, plays, works at a music venue. The other is more like you describe, OP. More likely to be listening to someone talking on a video than a song. I do find that sad, as those videos are mainly influencer shite or someone trying to sell you a product or idea, whereas they could be engaging with a piece of art. Come to think of it, I am probably the same these days 😫. I listen to music most of the day while working, but just for background really. I don't often play an album to listen to it.

Exactly. There absolutely is good music out there these days. And there has always been shit music too. Reruns of Top of The Pops are on tonight and I promise you, you'll be entertained and horrified in equal measure when you are presented with some of the utter garbage that was around in the 80s and 90s

I do think some of these answers are slightly missing the point - a big part of music for me as a teen was discovering bands that were new and feeling like they spoke to me and my peers in a way that my parents couldn't possibly understand. Not listening to AC/DC with my parents in the car!