Can Massage Therapy Help With Stress, Anxiety, Depression, and Grief?

If you’ve ever walked into my treatment room after a long week—shoulders tight, breathing shallow, nervous system on edge—you already know the answer feels like yes. But there’s also plenty of research that shows why massage therapy helps support mental and emotional well-being. I think this is incredibly important and relevant, given the realities of daily life in this day and age with... *gestures broadly*... everything going on in the world right now.

I’ve been a CAMTC-certified massage therapist for about 15 years. While my work is primarily focused on pain relief and recovery, over time it’s become clear that physical pain and emotional stress are deeply connected and often inseparable. If you've been to see me recently, it's that mind-body connection you may have already heard me talk about.

For many of us, waking up each day means carrying stress before the day even begins. We pick up our phones and start doomscrolling, taking in stories about public health and safety concerns, climate crises, rising costs of living, violence in the world, violence at the hands of governments, and information overload about all the terrible things happening. Many of us are carrying not just stress, but also grief and rage (personal, collective, or unspoken), and for some communities, including queer and marginalized people, this is usually compounded. 

This stress isn’t just mental or emotional; it shows up physically in the body. Chronic stress affects muscle tension, breathing patterns, sleep quality, digestion, pain perception, and emotional resilience. The nervous system can become stuck in a near-constant state of alert.

Massage therapy obviously can’t change systemic problems, but it can help support the body’s ability to regulate itself in the face of them.

Massage and Stress: Anxiety, Depression, Grief

So... what does research actually say about massage therapy and mental health? Research consistently links massage therapy with reduced physiological stress responses. Studies show that massage can lower cortisol (the body’s primary stress hormone), increase parasympathetic (“rest-and-digest”) nervous system activity, and improve heart-rate variability. Even relatively short massage therapy sessions have been shown to help signal safety to the body, which is  something many people rarely experience fully in everyday life.

It's important to mention that massage is not a replacement for mental health care, and it shouldn’t be presented as one. In practice, it works best as part of a broader support system, especially for people who have stress and emotional strain that shows up physically.

​That being said, there is a growing body of research supporting massage therapy as a complementary approach for anxiety and depression.

These findings include:

• reductions in anxiety symptoms following massage  
• improvements in mood when massage is used alongside standard care  
• increased levels of serotonin and dopamine (neurotransmitters involved in emotional regulation) 
• oxytocin release, associated with calm, connection, and a sense of safety  ​

While current research specifically on massage for grief is still limited, we know that grief involves shared symptoms with anxiety and depression: heightened stress responses, muscle tension, disrupted sleep, nervous system overload.  Massage can offer grounding, nonverbal support during these periods. There is no requirement to explain, perform, or process grief on the table. The body is simply allowed to be supported.

Safe, consensual touch can help restore a sense of physical grounding, and especially so for people who have learned to stay guarded in medical or public spaces.

Together, these effects help explain why people often feel calmer, more present, or more at ease after a session, even when external stressors haven’t changed.

What All This Looks Like in My Practice

To reiterate, I don’t treat massage as a substitute for mental health care, but I do see it as an important part of whole-person support. In my practice, that means listening carefully during intake, honoring names, pronouns, boundaries, and lived experience. I work with the nervous system rather than forcing change, and refer out when concerns fall outside my scope. This approach is the same one I use in all my sessions, with thoughtful communication centered on safety and consent.

Why does this matter? We’re living in a time when many people are expected to function at full capacity while carrying unprecedented levels of stress and uncertainty.

I know massage therapy won’t fix everything that’s going on in the world. But I also know it can help the body manage the weight of it: that tension you don’t notice until it eases, the shallow breathing that becomes habitual, the stress that quietly shapes pain and fatigue. Everyone deserves care that feels safe, respectful, and attuned... especially now.

If you’re curious about how massage therapy might support your stress, recovery, or overall well-being, I'm here to help. Click here if you'd like to book an appointment with me.

Don't forget to stay hydrated and take good care of yourself. 💜​​

References

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1093/ecam/nen029
https://www.lidsen.com/journals/icm/icm-04-04-058
https://pamelafitch-rmt.com/docs/MassageStratDepressedClients.pdf
https://ijtmb.org/index.php/ijtmb/article/view/1229/1319
https://www.proquest.com/openview/63c59c2af6c5c379b08a49b66255b0a2/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=18750&diss=y