Earworms are torture. If you’re not familiar with earworms – lucky you – they are like when a song gets stuck in your head. Over and over and over, you hear the same thing. An earworm doesn’t have to be music, but from my experience, it typically is. And, If I were to torture someone, I would make them listen to four lines of a song for days and days. I’m fairly certain it would break a person. I feel like earworms almost break me.
I wrote an article on earworms years ago, and people still email me about it. This is because people get earworms for days, weeks, months, or even years. Some people truly do feel tortured by earworms and would do anything to get rid of them. I completely understand where these people are coming from.
Update January 2024: There has been a new experiment on a unique way to fight earworms. See here for more.
I Get Earworms and I Feel Tortured
I get earworms. All the freaking time. If you were in my apartment, most of the time, I could tell you which stupid song was stuck in my head. I’m not going to give you examples because I fear they would get stuck in your head, too.
Research into Earworms
There has been very little research into earworms as, apparently, most people don’t find them distressing. Well, the people who contact me, and, you know, I, do find them distressing.
Earworms are associated with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) for the obvious reason, I suppose, but my theory is that earworms actually occur in many mental illnesses, but it isn’t recognized yet. The people who contact me, of course, pretty much all have mental illnesses of some sort, but, then again, my audience is rather biased.
Singing the Same Tune – Earworms Out Loud
Right now, I’ve had four lines of a song stuck in my head for days. All I do is sing them or hear them in my brain. I think I can sing them better than the original artist at this point. I can even sing them in harmony with the original song because I create some variance when I sing them out loud. (I was trained as a singer when I was young.)
And I swear to you, it’s torture. Really. Like, I just want to ice pick the part of my brain where the song lives. (That wouldn’t work, of course, as another song would take its place, naturally.) I feel like my brain is fighting me. I feel like my brain is against me.
And, admittedly, it feels like my brain is against me when any major bipolar symptom pops up, but this earworm thing is so relentless and so omnipresent and so same that it rises to the level of prolonged torture.
Cures for Earworms?
Unfortunately, as there has been very little research into earworms, there are no known cures. What the literature suggests is either to listen to music without lyrics (as earworms tend to be music with lyrics) or listen to another piece of music that is different from the one stuck in your head.
Update December 2019: One completely unscientific source — a guest on The Late Show — said that he gets rid of earworms by singing extremely short, catchy musical phrases. For example, three notes of a jingle. (For example, “by Menon.”)
These may be useless suggestions for most people with severe earworms. Mostly because getting one earworm out of your head just leaves an open space for another.
What I do suspect is that extreme earworms are a symptom of various mental illnesses, and better treatment of those illnesses would probably decrease the earworms. I have a sneaky suspicion that a doctor would prescribe antipsychotics for earworms that truly drove a person crazy, i.e., caused so much distress that they had to be treated. This is a suspicion of mine, though, and not from any literature.
Update January 2024
A series of experiments actually suggests that doing something as simple as chewing gum can help fight earworms:
“. . . interfering with articulatory motor programming by chewing gum reduces both the number of voluntary and the number of involuntary-unwanted-musical thoughts”
See here for more information.
Even Though Earworms Torture Me, I’m Lucky
Now, I’m lucky in that my earworms will subside if I’m deeply engrossed in something else, like a conversation. Some people are not so lucky. I have been told that some people find earworms so intrusive that they actually have trouble focusing on conversations. I feel deeply for these people. I wish I had some advice for them. But unfortunately, I don’t. All I can say is that they need to see a doctor and report their symptom and make it clear that it’s causing major problems in their lives. Maybe with treatment, they could get some relief. But again, I don’t know that for sure.
In short, while my earworms torture me, earworms torture others more. For that, I should feel grateful, I suppose. But sheesh. I don’t feel grateful when I’m cooking dinner and can’t stop singing a politically incorrect song I heard once 10 years ago.
If you happen to have earworms and have a great way to get rid of those earworms, do share it in the comments below. Believe me, you would be helping many.
Image by Flickr user Carrie Baughcum.
OMG! I knew it! I had them so bad when my mother was dying and I was taking care of her all by myself. They got better, but now i notice when I’m stressed or on the verge of “going off” with a manic episode (like the $1400 i just spent on Cutco knives or the $3000 I spent when my daughter was deep into some medical and mental health issues that they have again returned. This latest one for over one week. The second I wake up and all day. It subsides with conversation and when I focus on other things, but if left idle, my mind turns it on. I have been able to alleviate it in the past by playing the song over and over again until it seems to “burn out”. Guess I’ll try it this time. I’m just glad to know I’m not the only one!!!
I use a med called olawin/olexar for earworms.Best results I’ve ever experienced
I have had an ear worm for 2 months now. First one that has lasted so long. it’s a symptom of O.C.D. under the sub type of obsessions. The compulsive part isn’t part of it. Psychiatrists can prescribe selective serotonin re uptake inhibitors. These take 4-6 weeks for a moderate response. Most of the SSRI’s treat depression and also O.C.D. among other things. Another thing that you can do is to wait it out. And not resist the ear worm. I have heard that this works. If you resist the ear worm it will get worse. You can replace the song in your head to something else and this can help. Yeah its a pain to have a song on repeat or a fragment on repeat. It gets tiring after a while. Hope this helps.
A tune begins the moment I wake up in the morning. I’m using the the ear worm as a trigger for focused breathing, a “rising – falling” mantra, or counting breaths to 30 and beginning again that breaks the cycle in the moment.
Take a deep in breath and hold, sense the silence, hold the silence with the held breath. Then continue the breathing meditation focused on holding the silence. The ear worm will return when you lose focus, but then breath in and hold, then continue “rising – falling” holding breath at the top of the cycle and at the bottom for a few moments, focus on the silence. While it may not end the ear worm, you will get a break and learn a skill for holding it at bay while you rest in your breath.
It really broke my heart when i found out about it , and its connection to OCD , because from what i have read , it doesnt go away and it can only be reduced under medication , i just wanna lead a normal life again .
I invented a melody for my baby after she was born and this just got stuck in my head and plays all the time, except when I am working (I am computers programmer so spend mental energy and forget the melody diring that time), but it is always playing, and over the months it also changed slowly with new sequences and it drives me crazy . Do not know what to do I feel I have a bug in my head
I’ve had ringing in my ears for as long as I can remember.Longer than when I was told that I’m bipolar/schizaphinic. It just wont stop, at times it gets really loud & I cant consintrate on the task Im doing or watching a movie…
This has been going on with me for quite sometime, as a matter of fact I have stopped listening to music in my car, and canceled my Amazon Music subscriptio, which is devastating for me, because I love music, and this earworm is driving me crazy, it’s all day, all night. I have become so alarmed by it I finally decided to Google it to see if I was going insane. I do have OCD, and it’s just heartbreaking to me that I am being invaded by yet another problem. Ugh!
This is very relatable. But since I’m pertty young, I feel like it’s very very bad for me. It’s the middle of the night right now. And I just need to research this because it almost made me go mad. I haven’t gone to any doctors about it, should I? I don’t know I just need some help with this. Can anyone please help me? It’s like I have different songs coming in when I get the others out. It only comes when I fall asleep or when I’m not doing anything, but also right now?. I got very scared about it and I thought I was going mad, or crazy. I just…. PLEASE SOME HELPPP?
I have always thought ear worms were part of my bipolar, snippets of songs and phrases go round and round in my head all day sometimes. I have also had auditory hallucinations where I get the full concert experience of songs. The first time this happened I was 16 and undiagnosed, I was out camping with some friends and I was woken in the night by Rhiannon by Fleetwood Mac playing nearby very loudly. It would have woken the others up for sure, but no-one heard it. I would describe the feeling as almost like I imagine a religious experience to be (and I realise now it was the precursor to mania). It happens less and less now, (I’m in my 50’s). I can recall other times this has happened, the songs, and the sensation of hearing every note. I liked it. And I like that my hallucinations had a very varied playlist!
I’ve had this problem as long as I can remember. But I also do have sounds that repeat in my head, not just music. I have found that if it is a song that gets stuck, all I have to do is change the lyrics on my own. If I keep changing the lyrics every time I hear this song, my brain becomes confused and doesn’t repeat the lyrics. When it is a sound, I create echoes and vibrations to change the sound. Soon, it just disappears.
But, I also have auditory hallucinations. Sometimes I hear music that is an actual sensation in my ear, not inside my head. I can hear music playing outside the window, as if someone were playing their boom box. I go to look out the window and there’s nothing there. Sometimes I hear voices around the corner and I go to look. So, I consider this to be a brain echo. I don’t know if anyone else has ever experienced the sensation, but it’s a lot like ear worms. It’s as if, once I hear this song or sound, it echoes in my brain. Then the echo creates another echo. That’s why I make an effort to change lyrics or to alter a sound. My own theory.
I don’t know if this will help anyone else, but it does help me.
I comepletely get where you’re coming from with this, I’ve had these ear worms for months and every time I realise one is out of my head something else will just pop straight in. I’ve have the same as you like when I’m talking to someone I don’t have it or when I’m focused on something else but any time you ask me, I’ll have on eve ause someone’s reminded me about ear worms so one just goes straight into my head. It’s like when I forget about it it’s not there and when I realise it’s not there it’s there again ? let me know if you have found anything that helps since you wrote this article
Sleep,benzos,or ambien
I never knew this had such an odd name but I have it, – and have had it for a long time now. Right now it’s Bruno Mars,”Uptown funk you up–Uptown funk you up.” It’s been playing in my head for about an hour –and it’s Time.
My way out works for me.. I use my phone, tablet, CD player or PC to find another few songs to distract my cranial/audio recorder or I listen to a Ted talk, a documentary…. whatever. If you’re busy doing something else you enjoy, it helps to change the repetitive recording droning on in your head. Sometimes, it’s a song that I CAN’T STAND! It can be pitiful but the association with OCD is very interesting, b/c I may have a touch of this too.
Thanks for bringing this to my attention.
It’s just another addition to the pallet that paints the purple and turquoise picture of my insanity setting sadly in the western evening sky.
Another idea — if you don’t have time to, or don’t want to learn an instrument or sing in a choir, how about listening to a favorite CD, or to Pandora? How about ear buds around town to listen to favorite music, or Pandora. My earphones pick up Pandora from my smart phone. I only play Pandora on my headset when I am on the bus or at my destination. I don’t play it when I am walking around.
Very dangerous and distracting to walk around with it. (for me — I could trip on the sidewalk, or stop being aware of vehicles coming at me, or turning a corner in front of me.) Each person would need to analyze and decide for themselves if it’s dangerous to listen to headphones wile driving.
I have had music in my head, in my ears, all my life. Since before I could walk, I’m sure. All the time — ALL the time, even when I wake up to go to the bathroom in the middle of the the night. Sometimes in my dreams. Most of the time it’s a tune or song I’m working on, or already know. Sometimes it’s something classical or blues or …whatever that I love. Once in a while it’s something I don’t want in my head, which I guess could be called an ear worm. I just replace the music in my head with something else. Often the ear worm will return, but I just keep replacing it with music I love, and it totally goes away and soon. Has anyone tried that? Are you a person who does not want to have any music at all in your head? Have you considered that maybe you are a very musical person, and maybe you would want to learn an instrument or sing in a choir, etc? If that is something you would consider doing, keep in mind that choirs and instruments are all very different. Some choirs may sing music you love, or a variety of styles. Other choirs may sing stuff you do not like or have no interest in. As for instruments, if you don’t already know what instrument is begging you lo learn it, you would be wise to try several different ones before knowing which one speaks to you. I started out as a pianist, but late in life switched to a different instrument. Happens to a lot of musicians.
Oh gosh yes, am I familiar with this.
I can always tell when things are beginning to be a little more “off” than usual because one particular, and completely meaningless, little tune starts torturing me. All the freaking time. Day and night. When it starts to be relentless I am about to have a mixed or hypomanic episode; it’s the second most reliable sign to me after “you didn’t sleep worth beans last night.”
I also sing, and I find it fortunate to have, say, a few lines from the Mozart piece we’re doing right now get stuck instead of that godforsaken ditty. I’ll get tired of it by the time we’re done but it’s blessed relief from the earworm; I’m sure I’ll have all four parts down cold by the time it’s over.
Such an interesting topic! Also very interesting that you were trained as a singer as I think it’s possible that musician’s are “predisposed” to ear worms. I’m sorry that you find it so irritating, though it’s completely understandable. I have had ear worms every since I can remember, even as a child. As a string player, I not only hear a melody, but both my hands, not just the left, finger the notes, as if I was playing it.
I actually consider it a gift. It helps me to practice when I don’t have the time to do so physically. I can remember the melody, because of the ear worm, and then “practice” it with my fingers. I know this sounds wacko.
One thing that DOES drive me crazy are the so called “sleep machines”. I find that sometimes my ear will latch on to particular pitches in the sound loop, and then I hear it every single time the machine makes the loop. Not restful at all.
Maybe the thing to do is to embrace the earworms in spite of the suffering they cause you. Generally when we fight against something which is irritating us it makes it worse, for example scratching an itch. The answer to obsessive compulsive disorder is desensitisation through exposure to anxiety. We obsessively turn something around in our head when we view it as a problem. When we are relaxed we can let go of all obsession, so if it were possible to relax with the earworm it might go away.
One of the key generators of mental illness is perfectionism – which is learned social conditioning. If you have an absolute perfectionistic need for your mind to be free of earworms, then you will be tortured by them. Learning to let go of the need to be in control of what is going on in our heads is a very useful skill if we want to minimise our experience of mental illness.
i have stopped listening to any music at all because of ear worms. I never turn on the radio in my car. I keep my remote control close when the TV is on so I can mute certain commercials. As far as I know I don’t have a mental illness. But I certainly am susceptible to ear worms.