When to worry
Earworms are most often harmless. “They’re part of a healthy brain,” said Dr. Silbersweig. But in rare cases, they indicate certain medical conditions. People with OCD, for example, have been shown to have earworms during times of stress. If this is the case, cognitive-behavioral therapy as well as some antidepressants may help.
Take an earworm seriously if it’s linked to other symptoms, said Elaine Jones, MD, a neurologist in Hilton Head, S.C., and a fellow of the American Academy of Neurology. Those symptoms could include “loss of consciousness or confusion, visual loss or changes, speech arrest, tremors of arms or legs,” she said.
“Most worrisome would be a seizure, but other causes could include a migraine aura. In a younger person, less than 20 years old, this kind of earworm could indicate a psychiatric condition like schizophrenia.” Drug toxicity or brain damage can also present with earworms.
Her bottom line: “If an earworm is persistent for more than 24 hours, or if it is associated with the other symptoms mentioned above, it would be important to reach out to your primary care doctor to ensure that nothing more serious is going on,” said Dr. Jones. With no other symptoms, “it is more likely to be just an earworm.”
Japanese research also indicates that an earworm that lasts for several hours in a day can be linked to depression. If a person has symptoms such as low mood, insomnia, and loss of appetite, along with earworms that last several hours a day, treatment may help.
There’s another category called “musical hallucinations” – where the person thinks they are actually hearing music, which could be a symptom of depression, although scientists don’t know for sure. The drug vortioxetine, which may help boost serotonin in the brain, has shown some promise in reducing earworms.
Some research has shown that diseases that damage the auditory pathway in the brain have a link to musical hallucinations.
How to stop a simple earworm
Here are six easy ways to make it stop:
- Mix up your playlist. “Listening to songs repeatedly does increase the likelihood that they’ll get stuck,” said Dr. Margulis.
- Take breaks from your tunes throughout the day. “Longer listening durations are more likely to lead to earworms,” Dr. Scullin said.
- Use your feet. than the beat of your earworm. This will interrupt your memory of the tempo and can help chase away the earworm.
- Stick with that song. “Listen to a song all the way through,” said Dr. Silbersweig. If you only listen to snippets of a song, the can take hold. That’s the brain’s tendency to remember things that are interrupted more easily than completed things.
- Distract yourself. Lose yourself in a book, a movie, your work, or a hobby that requires concentration. “Redirecting attention to an absorbing task can be an effective way to dislodge an earworm,” said Dr. Margulis.
- Chew gum. shows that the action of doing so interferes with repetitive memories and stops your mind from “scanning” a song. Then enjoy the sound of silence!
A version of this article first appeared on WebMD.com.