Do depressing songs/artists make you feel worse or better?

Better

That depends. Sometimes it makes you feel understood, or instead, sad/angry/upset. It all depends on the situation and/or the song (usually lyrics). It's different for everyone I guess!

I think it makes me feel better because I'm allowing myself to be sad. I usually hide my inner sadness from people ("put on a happy face", so to speak), so when I am able to allow myself to feel how I truly feel, it's a relief, if that makes sense

In my case it depends on the intensity of the feelings I'm experiencing. Sometimes sad music can be a great outlet for my mood, because hearing someone vocalizing my inner state brings a lot of relief. However, in some cases, when my emotions are really overwhelming and intertwined with eachother or have a persitent intensity, it can actually backfire and only reinforce the low mood.

That's why I have beforehand prepared playlists with both kind of music: teary and uplifiting one, so I can listen to whatever makes me feel better in a given moment ^^; I find 8tracks really useful for that.

Sometimes sad music makes me feel better because it allows me to express what I can't put into quite the same words. It makes me feel like I'm not alone because whoever wrote the song must have felt like I do at some point. But if the song is TOO depressing, I usually feel just as bad if not worse. Even if I like the song. I like songs that express the sadness I feel while still trying to be positive. Twenty one pilots has a lot of songs like that, that people with depression can relate to.

They make me feel better. Upbeat songs seem fake and superficial when I am on a "down."

@IronicSarcasm

Yea I have. Music has really helped me get though stuff in life.

For me tho mostly if I'm feeling depressed I have the bad habit of making my self feel worse by listening to sad songs all the time. But it helps me , like by listening to them and hearing the words and emotion behind I end up crying which helps me get all the stuff I've bottled up inside out and even though I feel exhausted later I feel less sad....

My favourite song to hear when I'm low is Who you are by Jessie J

Better because I feel like I can empathize and that I'm not alone in my issues

It really depends on the time. It does both for me.

Actually, I'm currently reading a book entitled Why You Love Music: from Mozart to Metallica - The Emotional Power of Beautiful Sounds by John Powell. I'm about a third of the way through. In it, he states that studies show that generally faster, louder music in a major key that has a wider variation in pitch produces happier feelings. He also says that some people can also experience happiness from slower, softer music in a minor key that has less variattion in pitch, although these types of songs often create a sad mood. He says that studiese have found that when the person is able to choose their own music that the results are greater. So if the music makes a person feel understood and as if they're not alone, that could definitely produce a positive mood. It can also do the opposite. It *is* a very individual response and also correlates with the current mood and mindset of the person.

Powell writes in an easy, light-hearted way although he presents scientific studies and technical musical material. However, you don't need to understand all of that to understand what he's presenting. So, I think the book is great for a wide audience. And yes, he has me laughing right out loud quite often. So if anyone is interested in how we can use music, I'd highly recommend this book.