Songs that say bye to the blues

CAN Adele help alleviate depression? A Canadian study claims that she, and other purveyors of tear-jerking ballads, help those struggling with low mood.

Researchers say the rhythm of such songs regulates overactive electrical activity in the brain.

But I think something else is at play — how the lyrics relate to longing, missed opportunities, confused relationships and unfinished business.

The words resonate with the listener and it helps them feel less alone. It’s a bit like therapy.

Take Adele’s When We Were Young. Many were in tears when she sang it at a concert I attended recently. Who doesn’t look back on their younger years with wistful yearning?

Or what about Someone Like You? Every one of us has a lost love they wonder about.

I’d be interested to hear what songs you turn to in tricky times. A FASCINATING study by Masar y k University’s Research Centre for Neuroscience in the Czech Republic into Holocaust survivors reported this week that the depression and anxiety they suffered can be ‘passed’ on to their children and grandchildren. There is evidence of a similar phenomenon after the Rwanda genocide.

It is thought that severe psychological trauma can alter an individual’s DNA which may manifest itself in chemical and structural changes in the brains of succeeding generations, making them more susceptible to mental health issues.

This is the emerging field of epigenetics — how environmental factors can impact on genes. The good news is therapy can reverse some of these changes.