You don't have to know how to play, or be good at it, play bongos and it will make you feel better. Do it for 20 minutes.
When you feel stressed out, when you are negative, you activate withdrawal symptoms, from the avoidance system. That is, the NO. I canNOT, I do NOT want to, I am NOT good enough. Interestingly, when you take medication for lowering anxiety or stress, the withdrawal symptoms, the NO, continues active, therefore you might we dissipating the smoke, but the fire is still there.
As Shelley Carson, PhD, explains, when you do something creative, like playing any type of drums, you activate the approach system, which is completely the opposite. You can now leave the NO behind and open a whole world of possibilities for being happy.
Is that why percussionists enjoy so much?