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??

My DD (19) seems to have spent the last 5 years of her life with headphones on, listening to Spotify!
She did creative subjects at gcse, A level and now uni, and constantly listens to music while shes working. We always have music in the car. Occassionally if we are all at home in the evening, we have a YouTube "jukebox" evening where all the family take turns to pick a song/video.
She likes a wider range of music than I did when I was a teen.
I had mental health problems as a teen and in my early 20s, at 18 I spent 6 months in psychiatric hospital. Ordinary World by duran Duran, or Killing me softly by the fugees takes me straight back there.

DS is nowhere near as interested in music.

Mine listened to music through teens, all genres including my 90’s music, seen the Stereophonics live, one has mental health issues one doesn’t, same parents so same dna

He obviously listens to a wide range of music that he enjoys and speaks to him and I hear in the car what he likes when we have been doing 9 hour trips for his sporting events. Not sure why you have to be so snidey.

@RedRiverShore6

there’s excellent modern music though, we have some great local bands writing their own music performing I local pubs and bars, if they get lucky they get to perform at Glastonbury on the local stage. It’s really hard to get a break now as a band, young people seem to prefer so artists, but they do exist in real life, I’m seeing one tonight, around 2/3 of the 2 hour set will be their own songs plus they play favourites by other artists (think Fleetwood Mac, Blondie) all for a couple of pints as no cover charge

My dds listen to music. One has been going to gigs for years and saw some artists before they became famous. She also knows the title / artists of many songs from the 70s, 80s and 90s etc better than I do! The other listens to an eclectic mix of new and old music though has never been to gigs as she's not keen on loud crowded events. They're teens no longer but not far off. Music is very much a part of their lives.

Most kids I know love music. It doesn't hit you cos you're not an angsty teen. I also loved music and a teen and had mental health issues. It didn't fix anything. I think the wider issues in society and more talking and being open had more to do with it tbf than "no one can sing it like westlife!!"

There's a sort of arrogance in parents thinking this doesn't happen these days though. As if their generation had It right and all that come after are a bit less switched on. It may not be something the op's own kids do but to extrapolate that out to an entire generation is daft.

Kids these days are discovering old and new music that speaks to them, just like kids always have.

Perhaps if parents are approaching their kids from the viewpoint of 'the music of your generation is shit', their kids don't or won't open up about what they listen to and what 'speaks' to them. Maybe if parents are open and curious like their kids are with the music of our generation then they might find some new artists to enjoy

I don't know any of my kids teen friends who aren't on Spotify 24/7, they always have music in the background.

Mind you, with this proposed social media ban for under 16s Spotify will also be caught in the definition, so we are soon to see teens having access to less music to test your theory.

I don’t really listen to music. My kids share a love of music with their Dad.

I personally think a lack of physical activity is a big contributor to low mood

Mine listens to music, both modern and older stuff. I think she has very similar mh issues that I had when younger but she is now treated for pmdd which is helping immensely.

That’s a good point although entirely possible to use a parent’s account is it not?

Let's not pretend that everyone enjoys music in the same way, whatever your generation. I was a teen in the 90s, and although I listened to the radio a lot I didn't:

• Buy singles
• Read music magazines
• Go to gigs or festivals
• Talk about music with my friends
• Play music to get in touch with my emotions

I went to my first gig in my mid-20s - before then I had no idea how you'd go about finding the information of what was on locally, or where my favourite artists were playing. I was a moot point really as I couldn't have afforded tickets anyway 😂 Tales of "how we enjoyed music in the 90s" don't resonate with me at all.

I love music. I listen to britpop, rock, metal, bubblegum pop, classical, jazz, blues, country, folk, electronica, house, rap, and more... So do my kids. Attitudes like "ugh you like [band], how pedestrian" or "in my day music was better" or "the best way to enjoy music is MY way" are so narrow-minded. Listen to whatever you like, and let your kids do the same. Everybody wins!

You may well have something interesting to say but I will read nothing that starts with the phrase ‘hear me out.’ It’s hectoring and unnecessary.

I’m already here to read a post. I will read for as long as it interests me.

Interesting question - and it’s not about “I know xxx listens to music so that disproves the point”

it’s about average changes

hearing a single you love amongst the dross of the radio, saving your pocket money for a month and then heading into town buying the album and wallowing in it on repeat for a few weeks

is quite a different experience to Spotify which is a kind of radio targeted at you

so we have - being forced to listen to stuff you don’t like, being forced to wait for what you want, risk taking , and total immersion for about 22 minutes before turning over

rather than targeted at you, instant gratification and 3 minutes before new stimulation

cause or effect I wouldn’t say but I can see why OP links it to increasing mental health problems - lack of resilience, instant expected gratification and perhaps even the wrong kind of navel gazing

Said the woman who saw the youngsters all playing the piano forte rather than the harpsichord. Dreadful racket!

I wonder if the difference could be, not a lack of music but the way music is listened to by the modern teen creating the opposite - an overabundance.

With music on tap to download, the experience of the modern teen must be very different from saving money to buy albums, making your own mix-tapes, borrowing albums from friends, looking forward to the John Peel show on the radio because it was about the only station that played anything different.

I remember the days, before even Amazon, when if you wanted something obscure it was a case of going to record fairs or sending off in the post for home-printed catalogues in the, often vain, hope of finding it! And then the joy and triumph if it turned up at a car boot sale or charity shop! That delayed gratification experience is denied to modern youth,

It perhaps makes it more difficult nowadays to connect with a particular album and to create nostalgia associated with music; also harder perhaps to avoid the 'noise' of adverts, videos etc.

I disagree that modern music is shallower. Yes of course some (a lot of chart) music is but we have always had that level of dross. Stock, Aiken, Waterman for me as a Gen Xer was total pap. Kylie Minogue, Five Star, etc. Saying that I loved New Kids on The Block as a Teen and that felt that spoke to me!

There is some more mainstream stuff which I would say isn't shallow - off the top of my head I would say Taylor Swift, Twenty One Pilots. I know a lot of people younger than me find real meaning in other artists like Chappell Roan.

Then there's all the lesser well known stuff. My 24yo loves music and goes to gigs. She went to see The Beaches the other week and said it was the highlight of her life. I don't know their music at all but she would say there is meaning in their music for her.

Mine isn’t a teen but is always listening to music. He is a music student though. He listens to everything from classical to rap and literally everything in between.
But I do get what you mean about the importance of music, it’s always been huge for me and I’m still going to see the same bands I liked 20 or 30 years ago.

Do you visit any grassroots music venues still though?

There is a Music Trust that is campaigning to support local grassroots venues. They give awards to venues etc. But if you go to those they have nights that are things like fresh faces, future headliners or just themes on genres.

They have young people united under a genre all wearing band shirts and talking music.

Theres also a pretty thriving open mic pub scene. A lot is just pop covers as it has to have broad appeal but its a chance for musicians to get infront of audiences, play live etc. If you chat to the band members you'll find most have a passion genre and are also in a different band that will have an Instagram or tik tok following.

My DC have lives full of music. I don’t recognise this music free young people’s landscape you are describing.

They and all their friends go to gigs regularly.

Honestly I find Spotify much better for finding new music than radio. I put on a Spotify playlist, or find a playlist made by someone, and occasionally there's a song that really makes me sit up and listen.

I had one mix tape made for me by a friend: I still have it, because it was the only one I ever got. Not exactly a rich vein of musical discovery.

Or the child might have an underlying MH problem that CAMHs tries to blame on any or all of the above rather than diagnose instead of parent blaming. The only thing tjat has ever dented my MH was dealing with CAMHS when dd was unwell aged 15. Thank goodness we had enough money to get her under a private adolescent psychiatrist who diagnosed the root cause, which was ADHD. The CAMHs nurse who I informed dismissively said "well mum, I think she's a bit too old to have that".

@Om83 my DC are both innately musical and enjoy a broad range of modern and classical music. DD sings, classically trained - coining it in by singing at weddings as a side hussle. Her bf plays the organ - they are both neuro-divergent, both clever, both successful and overcame teenage difficulties due to loving and supportive families, developing into their quirky and musical selves.

My best friend and flatmate at teacher training discovered The Smiths in 1988. She went from bring a happy student to wearing black and being troubled and miserable. Those were not fun times.

Teens have more access to music than we did in the 90s, mine always has headphones in.
i think maybe you’re confusing the feeling of life as a teen in the 90s compared to now, that I completely agree with. Didn’t realise how good we had it. Things are tough for teens now, first generation really where life is lived through apps and social media and have parents who are finding their way through all of that.

I've just discussed this with my mum who thinks "back then" was rubbish as it was saturated with Donny Osmosis and his brothers and The Bay City Rollers and she was teased at school for liking David Bowie and Steve Harley.