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Music Obsession

The relationship which many people have with music goes so far that I would even call it unhealthy.

For example, long time ago I had a friend who was completely obsessed. The very first thing that he would do when he arrived home was to turn the TV on and switch to the Music-TV channel. The TV would stay on for the rest of the day (the channel would be temporarily changed only if he wanted to watch some TV show). The TV would stay on even if he eg. played a computer game (which resulted in a cacophony of two different musics playing at the same time).

This is not even a rarity. There are many, many people who seem to be completely unable to be inside a house if music is not playing. Something must be playing at all times. Before cheap MP3 players became the norm, these people would often have CD players which had 4 CD trays and could play all four of them in succession. Some players had even more (eg. up to 10 CDs).

If you think about it, a remote for a CD player is one of the craziest things in existence, and exists solely for these people. What the heck do you need a CD player remote for? It's not like going to the CD player once an hour would be that much of a job. But seemingly it is, for these people.

Some people go even further. No only cannot they stay at home without music playing all the time, they cannot do their work without music playing (you see these people at office workplaces all the time), and some can't even walk on the street without music constantly playing.

These latter people are just plain crazy. Not only do they have to have constant music, they play it so loud that you can hear it from a serious distance even though they are using headphones. This is actually pretty dangerous, and not only because of the danger of hearing loss or damage: They are playing the music so loud that they are unable to hear the sound of traffic or other similar situations where auditory warnings could save their health or even life. Moreover, the music itself is distracting, lessening their state of alertness.

Some of these people are just ridiculous. If they use inconspicuous earbuds, that's ok. However, some of these people walk on the street with ridiculously large circumaural headphones on their head. They look like total dorks, and they don't even realize it.

There's a name for this kind of behavior: Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.

These people should seek help. OCDs can be treated. Music cannot be that important. If you can't live without music, you have a serious problem and should seek professional help.


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