Fist before I start composing this blog, I just want to say that country music is indeed my favorite type of music. When I was researching this topic I was remotely surprised by this correlation which prompted me to dig a bit deeper. I typed in music in relation with suicide rates and right before my eyes it came up that country music has the highest correlation all the way through. But why??
Country singer Carrie Underwood
According to a study done by Steven Stack and and Jim Gundlach they believe there is a positive correlation between country music and suicide rates. In their report “The effects of country music on suicide”, which later won them The Ig Nobel award for medicine, they had positively linked the two things. They did the study based on 49 metropolitan areas and found that the towns that played a higher than average amount of country music actually had higher rates of suicide. But my question still remains, why? Some of the songs even consist of lyrics like “God is great, beer is good.” Most of the songs relate to trucks, the outdoors, some beer, God himself, and a great person by your side.
In conclusion I would say that this debate is left up in the air. It really is a matter of your own opinion towards the genre, some hate it yet others can’t get enough.People in the past may have most definitely found links, but can’t explain the science behind it. Like most things in science it will be left unanswered until further investigation.I think a reasonable study would be to have people sit in a room and listen to nothing but country music for a few hours, while measuring their brain activity. Researchers can try to see what is going on inside of the human mind that makes people suddenly more depressed or more susceptible to something like suicide. I would love to get an answer on this topic seeing that I am a huge fan and country music would be my first pick when it comes to listening to music.
Lenzer, Jeanne. “Can Country Music Drive You to Suicide?” BMJ : British Medical Journal. BMJ Group, n.d. Web. 19 Oct. 2015.
“Country Music Kills: Radio Airtime Ups White Suicide Rate.” Science 2.0. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Oct. 2015.
I absolutely hate country music, however, I don’t think that someone’s dislike for country music could on its own lead to suicide. Despite the blog being a very interesting topic, I believe this is a case of correlation not equaling causation. I found an article where researchers conducted a study in which they observed the effects of a station playing country music and the relation it had to the area’s suicide rates. The study was proof that “z” variables are not accounted for in the correlation as the article specified that it did not account for depression, divorces, poverty and gun availability in the area. As a result, it is hard to consider the correlation as anything other than chance.
I think this topic is very interesting. Country music is my favorite type of music. I never would have thought that country music and suicide would correlate together. I feel that there are many other variables that should be taken into account while doing research on this topic. Variables such as depression, alcohol consumption, and the community in which one lives, are all possible third variables. Researching further into this would help clarify an answer to this problem.
I agree that correlation does not equal causation in this study. Yes, these studies found a correlation between listening to country music and suicide rates, but that does not mean they are directly correlated to each other. It seems nearly impossible that listening to music that has lyrics that are generally positive, can cause people to commit suicide. Third variables are most likely the thing that is causing this correlation.
Okay – I love country music as well. When I saw your header my first reaction was complete astonishment. Those who enjoy country music think of it as soothing rhythms and cute plot lines. Although, sometimes slower songs with nice little stories can lead the brain to think different things. For example, there are many songs pertaining to break-ups, losing the one you loved and drinking. All of which can cause someones mind to over think and react. Undoubtably it does come down to how strong a person one may be. If you are strongly influenced by certain stories and correlate them to your own life, then maybe suicidal thoughts are present. Country songs are very well written and can represent an exact event that occurred in the artist’s life. That being said – those events may have occurred in our lives. An example would Luke Bryans “Drink a Beer”. Many of us can relate to this song, which can take a harder toll on certain people. On the other hand, rock and rap is not as heartfelt and therefore does not hit those nerves in our minds.
I think there’s a huge amount of potential confounding variables possible in this study. In these towns they studied in your sources, there could perhaps just be a strong culture rooted in country music, as well as a strong demographic of people that listen to that type of music in a certain area that may not be as well off as other areas that may or may not have had an influence on the studies. Studying an impoverished deep-south town for suicide rates and looking for links to suicide with country music is very different from scanning a neighborhood in an upscale part of Tennesee or Arizona, just for the sake of an example. Also, people that have non-linked problems with suicidal thoughts or depression might listen to country music as a disposition towards listening to music that coincides with their negative thoughts, as any type of music under the sun can have its more soulful yet sad or depressing communities of sound and artists. In fact, sad music can have an uplifting effect on mood, and positive music can do the opposite. http://psychcentral.com/news/2014/02/20/take-a-sad-song-and-make-mood-better/66155.html
I am still very skeptical that there is an actually link between country music and suicide. The one study alone does not reveal enough information to make an educated conclusion. The study has not taken into account third variables. This is because the study was an observation, not an experiment. Taking data from the “National Endowment of the Arts, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis,” researches developed a heat map showing musical preferences across the United States. Here is the country heat map. Country music seems to be popular in the Las Vegas area and the Nashville area. I can already think of many confounding variables that might skew the results of your study in the Las Vegas area. For instance, gambling might increase suicide rates. Either way, this is still a very interesting topic. However, many more studies need to be taken in order to properly claim this theory true.
country heat map
I think this is a very interesting correlation. Country music is my favorite type of music; my friend and I listened to it for four hours straight coming back to state from home last weekend. I think studies conducted should look more into other variables like the economic status of the people who listen to country music. Maybe they live in a rural area, where employment is not thriving and they are under a lot of stress. Also like you mentioned, country music coincides with drinking. Their levels of alcohol consumption could be a contributing factor too. Also, anyone could easily argue that rap, scremo or even classical music can cause depression and lead to suicide. It depends on the person’s music taste and how they are emotionally attached to that genre. This article shows that people who listen to music regularly are more likely suffer from depression than those who don’t.
The important thing to remember in this study is that correlation does not equal causation. While it is obviously possible that the more country music you listen to the higher chance you will commit suicide, it is certainly ridiculous to think about. Personally, I would lean towards investigating more confounding third variables such as the average stress a person undergoes everyday, average percentage of people with clinical depression and suicidal thoughts, and other personal issues people may face. I am really surprised that such a ridiculous idea (saying that the amount of country music could lead to higher suicide rates) would earn somebody a Nobel Prize. I think it really has everything to do with third variables.