Mental health continues to be a major talk across the nation. Teenagers face mental health dilemmas every day. In numerous ways, mental health executes complicated brain simulations that cause teens to have diverse emotions. Every teen looks for a route to relax these emotions. Typically, teens may find themselves going into negative or positive routes to exercise coping mechanisms with emotions dissociated with mental health. Nonetheless, one positive route teens encounter is through a balance of music.

Music provides structured lyrics in a poetic format that helps teens cope with their mental health challenges. Students at Yorba Linda High School listen to all different genres of music depending on their emotions. Truthfully, wherever it may be, each student has their selection of preferred music. A diverse range of music genres affects a teenager’s emotions, which correspond to mental health.

Narrowing down genres of music that affect emotions music with softer beats and tones correlates to the more relaxing and spiritual realm for teens. Reggae or country stumble into this music genre because of the delicate instrumental background cast around the lyrics. More upbeat, complex music creates motivation, an advanced work ethic, and a strategic plan. Significantly, rap relates to more upbeat, complex music because of the use of storytelling from hardship to accomplishment it inspires motivation. All of these genres affect teens’ emotions.

On-campus students were asked the question: How does your music affect your emotions?

Relatively, most students preferred softer, soulful music that relaxed their minds. Wyatt Benson (11) stated, “Rock and reggae music is the best because the rock is focused on the guitar which is my favorite instrument and reggae is groovy.” On the other hand, Sami Kerr (11) prefers “country because it’s more chill and I like the rhythm. It calms me down.” Paige Porter (11) prefers the country band Old Dominion “because their music is really good and I can relate to a lot of the songs.”

On the other hand, students who prefer rhythm and blues (R&B) or rap typically use these music genres to focus on exercise or homework. Christian Kim (11) says the artist Post Malone’s “songs are really good and help me do my homework and relaxes me.” Yasmeen Nawwad (11) enjoys listening “to rap at the gym to help focus on my workout and I like going to concerts with my friends.”

It is noticeable that teenage mental health needs various coping mechanisms and music is one way to cope. Every teenager has a preferred music genre that exposes a way to handle their emotions that correlate with mental health. These emotions come sporadically or frequently with a mix of other factors of mental health. Music generates a miraculous coping mechanism for mental health in teens.