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MUSIC + HEALTH IN THE NEWS: Headlines From Summer 2025

A roundup of news, research, + current events that may be of interest to musicians, music-lovers, + anyone wanting to stay healthy in the modern world.


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At SMASH, we try to stay up-to-date on current events in the world of health and music to better understand the various factors affecting the lives and careers of our musician members -- and our community in general. Recently, we decided to keep a list of the articles we find especially interesting or important (or sometimes just cool) so we can share them with you, too.


In no particular order, here are a few headlines that caught our attention over the summer:



This article is from two months ago, but if you haven't read it yet, it's very worth your time! These types of stories are always relevant and unfortunately all too familiar these days, but we are so glad to see these issues getting the attention they deserve. Hopefully the growing conversation around musicians and healthcare will inspire change in the industry.


🧠 Why Boredom Is Good For Your Kid (Psychology Today)


This article is aimed at parents who are currently raising young kids, but it has a lot of universal advice for all of us living in this era of ever-present stimulation -- especially creative people! The writer, a psychologist named Sam Goldstein, makes the case that getting bored is good for you.


He cites three reasons you should try leaning into boredom rather than reaching for a device to entertain you: 1) It teaches you how to be patient, resourceful, and self-reliant, 2) it gives you space to think and daydream, helping you process emotions and experiences, and 3) it gives your nervous system a rest/reset, which can be crucial for preventing feelings of overstimulation.



A recent study published in the journal Frontiers In Psychology has found that young adults with ADHD “tend to listen to background music more frequently than their neurotypical peers during both cognitively demanding and less demanding activities.” Interestingly, those with ADHD also preferred “stimulating music” (aka not your average, calm background tunes) regardless of what they were doing, while those without ADHD preferred “relaxing” music.


Researchers theorize that this may be due to people with ADHD having lower baseline brain arousal than their neurotypical peers, and therefore may seek out external stimulation like music to get an extra dopamine boost and help them focus, while others might find that overstimulating. Fascinating!



Research has shown that social connection and doing activities in synchrony with other people to achieve common goals have an immensely positive effect on a person’s happiness and overall wellbeing. It’s also associated with deeper levels of empathy for others, since you have to be “in tune” with another person to fall into rhythm. Playing music with others is a perfect example of this, due to something called entertainment: a fancy term for intentionally coordinating your movement with others as opposed to just being in the same room. Pretty interesting, and explains a lot about the closeness of bandmates – for better or worse!



If you’ve experienced intense sadness when a beloved musician passes away, especially one you’ve loved your entire life, the grief can feel similar to those surrounding the death of someone you knew personally. Many felt this for the first time last month following the death of Black Sabbath vocalist Ozzy Osbourne, while others have experienced it many times over decades of music fandom. The author (a licensed therapist) mentions his feelings surrounding the deaths of Tom Petty, Kurt Cobain, and Chris Farley in and noted that they were similar to the classic stages of grief. 


It can be disorienting when our heroes die – not only due to the sadness of the tragedy, but because it inspires questions about our own mortality and loss of permanence as well. The best thing you can do? Lean into the feeling, seek comfort in others who loved them, and keep their memory alive as long as you can.



The official guidelines for avoiding high blood pressure and heart disease are being updated for the first time since 2017, and for the first time ever, they will now include a recommendation to avoid alcohol. The American Heart Association and the American College of Cardiology released a study this week suggesting that alcohol’s role in causing high blood pressure directly increases a person’s risk for heart disease.


According to the CNN article, “High blood pressure doesn’t have any symptoms typically. But when your blood pressure is high, the force of your blood pushes against the walls of your blood vessels, making your heart less efficient, so both the vessels and heart must work harder. Without treatment, high blood pressure will eventually damage your arteries, raising your risk of having a heart attack or stroke.”



If you live in Washington and pay for an individual health insurance plan (meaning anyone who doesn't qualify for Apple Health and can't access insurance through an employer), it's possible that your premium could increase by up to 37% in 2026. According to the Seattle Times, this is because many federal subsidies put into place during the COVID-19 pandemic that keep costs down are set to expire at the end of 2025 unless Congress takes action to extend them, and also the fact that tariffs have raised the costs of medicine and medical equipment. The state Office of the Insurance Commissioner is reviewing the requests made by insurance companies to raise their prices, and will announce their decision by the end of this month.


Note: This article is behind a paywall, so if you've already hit your Seattle Times article limit for the month, you can also read about this situation on the WA state Office of the Insurance Commissioner's official site.



If you want to share a MUSIC + HEALTH-related article with us, email SMASH@SMASHSeattle.org!

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