Why We Love Listening To Sad Music On Repeat | HuffPost Life

Did All Too Well (Taylors Version) maim you, too?

Ive listened to the 10-minute version countless times since its release on Friday . Just when I think Im done and ready to switch to a happier track, something reels me back. It doesnt even matter that Im not going through devastating heartbreak (bless my patient fianc). I cant help but get lost in the poetic lyrics and listen to it again. And again. And then again one more time.

Sound familiar? Many of us have been guilty of blasting a song a million times. But were not masochists at least according to science. Music has a notoriously powerful influence on our emotions.

Here are a few research-backed reasons why we keep pressing play.

Sad music makes us feel calm.

Theres a reason we always turn to sappy ballads when were feeling low. A 2014 study published in the journal PLOS One found that listening to blue tunes actually creates positive feelings like peacefulness in the listener. The researchers discovered that those who listened to the sad music also experienced more empathy because they felt connected to the sadness of the musics artist but experienced no real life implications of the sad event. This may also explain why we gravitate toward downer music after a breakup .

Melancholy music may release hormones in the brain that help us cope with sad situations.

Music is known to release the neurotransmitter dopamine in the brain , which provokes feelings of pleasure. This can occur whether the music is happy or sad. Some experts theorize that sad music also releases a hormone called prolactin, which is specifically tied to alleviating grief.

As Science Alert reported in 2016 : The body is essentially preparing itself to adapt to a traumatic event, and when that event doesnt happen, the body is left with a pleasurable mix of opiates with nowhere else to go.

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