In addiction recovery, music can be a form of therapy, a way to unwind and quiet your mind. But can certain types of music or specific songs lead you back to your drug of choice? Researchers in Australia attempted to find out in their new study.

The researchers led a group of 38 participants, 19 of which were in residential treatment for substance use disorders. The remaining 19 were used as control subjects. The study included two phases.

During the first phase, the researchers had the subjects listen to two songs, one of which may trigger their addiction, the other which was meant to make them calm. They found that those in treatment found they had more cravings after the trigger song and felt calmer after the other.

In the next phase, the participants were played three different classical songs that were meant to make them happy, sad or peaceful. They found that the control group had a much stronger response to the happy song, while the residential group had a strong response to the sad song.

The researchers state it was important to evoke any type of emotion from the participants in treatment in order to work through their substance use disorders. In doing so, the right type of music can then be used as a form of therapy.