A recent article from Medical News Today featuring RCA’s VP of Mental Health Services, Dr. Pete Vernig, explores whether scientifically designed music, played for the right amount of time, can help calm an anxious mind.
New research has shown that music embedded with auditory beat stimulation (ABS), built to guide the brain from a heightened state of stress to a relaxed one, worked better at easing anxiety than simple background noise. Participants who listened to this music for 24 to 36 minutes reported the greatest relief in their anxiety, irritability, and emotional distress.
But, as Dr. Vernig points out, this isn’t the same as pressing play on a calming playlist. The music used in the study was engineered specifically to meet people where they are emotionally, matching their current state and gradually easing them towards calm, something a Spotify playlist can’t quite reproduce.
Dr. Vernig also urges realistic expectations. He likens ABS music to a rescue inhaler; useful for managing acute symptoms, but is best used as a compliment to established, ongoing treatment rather than a standalone solution.
At Recovery Centers of America, we know that healing looks different for everyone. Through individualized, evidence-based treatment, we help individuals find what works for them and build a path to lasting recovery.
