The Music You Listen To When You’re Stressed Reveals A Lot About How You Process The World, Says A Neuroscientist

Being under a lot of stress isn’t comfortable, and most of us look for a way to alleviate that stress as soon as we possibly can. One way to do this is by listening to music. Getting lost in your favorite tunes can calm you down and comfort you when everything feels out of control.

Any music you love can help to take your mind off the stress you’re feeling, but there’s a good chance you have a go-to artist, song, or playlist for those moments when you’re really feeling the pressure. While this may seem innocuous to you, the music you turn to when stressed actually says a lot about where your nervous system is at.

According to a neuroscientist, listening to certain music when you’re stressed indicates whether your body is in fight, flight, or freeze mode.

Neuroscientist Kyle Cox shared some interesting insight into why the music you choose to listen to when you’re stressed matters. “The music you gravitate toward reveals your dominant nervous system state, and you probably picked your favorite genre during a formative period that locked in the pattern,” he explained.

Essentially, there are two different types of people in the world based on the music they listen to when stressed. “Heavy bass and fast tempos match sympathetic activation,” he said. “If you love EDM, drum and bass, or aggressive hip-hop, your system likely runs on fight-or-flight, and the music matches your internal rhythm.” Interestingly, Cox noted that the reason this music feels so soothing is that it mimics your heartbeat, which is a well-known feeling for people in fight-or-flight.

On the other hand, more chill music choices mean something entirely different. “Acoustic, ambient, and slow tempo preferences suggest parasympathetic dominance, or freeze patterns,” Cox continued. “The music creates external calm to match internal slowness. These listeners often feel agitated by fast, loud music because it pushes them into activation they’ve learned to avoid.”

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Listening to fast tempos or chill music fits with what you experience in fight-or-flight or freeze mode.

Psychosocial rehabilitation specialist Kendra Cherry, MSEd, explained, “The fight-or-flight response is your body’s natural, automatic reaction to stress or danger. It triggers physiological changes, such as a faster heart rate and tenser muscles, that prepare your body to deal with the source of the stress.”

It makes sense, then, that someone stuck in fight-or-flight mode would prefer louder music. It matches the feeling that their nervous system is evoking. However, as Cherry pointed out, staying stuck in fight-or-flight for too long can negatively impact your health. Perhaps there is some connection to the dangers loud music can pose.

Meanwhile, Jerimya Fox, a doctor of behavioral health at Banner Health, said, “Functional freeze mode refers to a state in which you find yourself unable to undertake certain tasks or make decisions due to a mental or emotional block.” Whereas fight-or-flight leads you to take some sort of action, freezing is exactly what it sounds like. These people prefer more calming sounds that match their inability to act.

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Naturally, experts can determine a lot about you based on your listening patterns.

Cox shared that a music therapist can tell how you’re doing solely based on your playlists. “Music therapists discovered they could identify trauma patterns purely by playlist analysis with 78% accuracy,” he said. “Your shuffled queue is essentially a diagnostic tool. The most revealing detail is what you listen to when you’re stressed.”

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In a study published in Frontiers in Psychology, researchers said that using music as therapy can aid with “mood improvement, self-expression, catharsis, facilitating grieving, relaxation, reflection, socialization, community building, stress reduction, and more.”

Turning to music when you’re in fight-or-flight or freeze mode makes sense, then. When we’re stressed and feeling difficult emotions, we’re typically desperate to feel better, and music can provide that outlet, while also saying a lot about the kind of stress we’re experiencing.

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Mary-Faith Martinez is a writer with a bachelor’s degree in English and Journalism who covers news, psychology, lifestyle, and human interest topics.