Anxious? Lonely? Stressed? This Is the Playlist For You
With an eye to this year’s focus on mental health, the Springtide Ambassadors have once again put together Spotify playlists! We sent an internal survey to our ambassadors, asking them to reflect on a few questions about music and mental health and to suggest songs that fit a certain mood or mental framework. Now, we’re excited to debut the first of three mental health-focused playlists!
The playlist “IN MY FEELS: #MentalHealthandGenZ” was created in response to the question, “What song(s) do you listen to when you’re feeling stressed or down?” Ambassadors gave song suggestions dating from the ’60s and ’70s with artists like The Foundations and Bill Withers all the way to newer releases from artists like AJR and Phoebe Bridgers. Along with these song suggestions, ambassadors supplied brief descriptions as to why they chose these particular songs. Lauren, 15, answered, “These songs have a sad, calming effect, which helps me calm down or even cry when I’m sad, upset, or just need to cry.” Jacob, 22, explained that his song selections “motivate me and give me hope; the lyrics suggest appreciating the good times while they last and that they will come again.” A third young person, age 14, remarked, “These songs are all in one of my favorite TV shows, so they make me happy.”
Almost everyone who responded to the survey said that music is really important to them. Sophie, 15, wrote, “Music is a great way for me to reconnect with my own feelings and process them in a low stress way.” Mercer, 17, expanded on this idea: “For me, music so perfectly explains, communicates, expresses, etc. feelings and thoughts that I either didn’t know I was capable of feeling or cannot communicate on my own. Music acts as a way of venting or decompressing and really sinking into emotions. On the other hand, music also acts as a way to pull me out of emotions or slumps that I don’t want to linger in.”
Whether a young person is happy, sad, or somewhere in between, odds are that their life is accompanied by a soundtrack of their choosing. We hope this playlist gives you a little insight into the emotional lives of the young people in your circles!
Post written by SAP member George.
Digital album artwork created by SAP member Keziah.
