People who play music are more likely to develop mental illnesses, including depression or bipolar disorder.
- Bipolar disorder is ranked among the ten most disabling conditions, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
- Music therapy uses music as a means of healing and soothing: reducing anxiety, pain, increasing well-being, improving sleep, etc.
In France, it is estimated that between 1 and 2.5% of the population is affected by bipolar disorder, but this figure would be underestimated, according to the High Authority of Health (HAS). Health insurance defines it as “a chronic mental illness responsible for mood disturbances, usually with alternating states of elation and depression”.
At the moment, scientists do not yet know all the causes of the development of this disorder. Nevertheless, “however, we know that there are, in sick people, biological disorders in the functioning and communication of brain cells, as well as genetic abnormalities”, specifies the Health insurance.
Mental illnesses: a higher genetic risk in musicians
According to two studies, respectively published in the journals Scientific Reports (2019) and Trans Psychiatry (2023) by the same authors, people who play music have a higher genetic risk factor for developing bipolar disorder or depression, a mental illness characterized by a succession of depressive episodes with symptoms such as pathological sadness, loss of pleasure or the almost permanent feeling of anxiety.
In their first study, in 2019, the researchers looked at data from 10,500 participants. Thus, they observed that those who played music had more frequent depressive, burnout and psychotic symptoms. To try to better understand this relationship between music and the risk of developing mental illnesses, they continued their work using molecular genetic methods. For this, they analyzed the DNA of 5,648 participants who had also provided information on their musical practice, their mental health and other data such as creative activities or the practice of a sport.
“The link between making music and mental health is very complex”
The researchers observed that the genetic variants implicated in these pathologies overlapped with those that influence musical engagement. Thus, participants who had a higher genetic risk for depression and bipolar disorder played more, on average, a musical instrument than those who did not have a high genetic risk.
Conversely, people who had a higher genetic predisposition to play an instrument also had, on average, a slightly higher risk of developing depression, whether or not they played an instrument. “The overall link between making music and mental health is therefore very complex: family and genetic factors can influence both musicality and mental health, concludes Miriam Mosingone of the authors. Additionally, musicians appear to have a slightly higher genetic risk for certain mental illnesses.”
