Music & Healing

🤩 Music and Healing

Let me share a simple but powerful story about how music can support our health.

A friend of mine is a very faithful person. For several years, she suffered from Meniere’s disease.
If you know it, you know how hard it is — constant dizziness, ringing in the ears, and the fear that symptoms might return without warning.

On top of that, she fell into depression.
Nothing seemed to lift her spirits, and she gradually began to lose hope.
Then something unexpected happened.
She discovered the singer Lim Young-woong.

At first, she just listened casually.
But soon, his music gave her a sense of comfort and stability she had been missing for years.
She felt connected, encouraged, and emotionally safe.

Little by little, her depression lifted.
She says with absolute confidence,
“I escaped my depression because of him.”

Of course, Lim Young-woong did not medically cure her Meniere’s or her depression.
But science tells us something interesting: music has real, measurable effects on the body and brain.

For example:
• Music reduces stress hormones.
It lowers cortisol and calms the body.
• Music boosts mood chemicals like dopamine and serotonin.
• Music stabilizes the autonomic nervous system, which helps with dizziness, tension, and emotional regulation.
• Music gives people meaning and motivation.

Feeling inspired by an artist can change someone’s daily habits, sleep, and mindset — all of which support recovery.

This is why some people say things like,
“Lim Young-woong helped me beat depression,”
or even,
“He helped me fight cancer.”

Music itself does not cure diseases, but it can heal the person — and a healed mind often strengthens the body.

🧠 And here’s something even more fascinating: the role of the frontal lobe.

The frontal lobe is the part of the brain responsible for attention, emotion control, motivation, and meaning-making.

People with strong faith or deep emotional engagement often show more active or more responsive frontal-lobe patterns.
When such a person connects deeply with music…

• The frontal lobe focuses intensely on the music.
• It interprets the music as meaningful, comforting, and hopeful.
• It strengthens emotional regulation and reduces fear and stress.
• It enhances the placebo effect — the brain’s natural healing response.
• It boosts resilience, helping the person recover both mentally and physically.

In other words, a devoted or spiritually inclined person may experience even stronger healing effects from music, because their brain is already wired to engage deeply, believe deeply, and respond emotionally.

This could explain why my friend’s recovery was so dramatic and why she developed such strong affection for Lim Young-woong.

And now, understanding her healing process, I can see why she became so devoted.

To be honest, it’s still a little uncomfortable for me sometimes.
In the past, she used to passionately preach Christianity to me, and now she praises Lim Young-woong with the same intensity whenever she gets the chance.

But even so, I want to understand her better, respect her journey, and make an effort to empathize with her.

In the end, music may not be a medicine,
but it is definitely a force —
one that comforts the mind, lifts the spirit, and helps people come back to life in ways science is only beginning to understand.