Do sad songs help one cope with grief? Yes, says study

Listening to sad songs after a break up may actually be good for your mental health. A team of researchers from the school of psychology at De Montfort University, along with other universities in the UK, released a report based on it named 'Sad music as a means of acceptance-based coping'.

The report is based on two studies conducted on around 450 participants, on their everyday listening habits. It was found that people who were listening to sad songs, were seeking consolation to their grief. Moreover, sad music in comparison to happy music, helped them accept the negative situation and cope with it.

Dr Van den Tol, who led the study, was quoted on the varsity site, “Sadness often involves emotional loss, which is not a problem which can be solved or reversed. The only real way to move on and feel better is by accepting the situation and we found that people were able to do this by listening to sad music, but not so much by listening to happy music.” Read the full report here.