Personal Narrative: How Music Enhances My Mental Health

In recent tests scientists found that music could reduce the perceived intensity of pain. It can also ease stress before and after a patient has surgery. This is why many hospitals use musical therapy. Music can additionally have good effects on your mood such as relieving stress, reducing symptoms of anxiety and depression, and elevating your mood. It can help in high stress situations such as exams and give you a better cognitive performance. When you go to the gym you will find that there is music playing and this is usually because it improves running and biking motivation and increases workout endurance. Additionally it can help your body recover faster after exercising. This is because it enhances your blood vessel function. Other positive outcomes of music can include better memory, helping people eat less and improved sleep quality. As well as positive physical effects there are also positive emotional and mental effects of music. One of the most famous ones is the Mozart effect. If somebody listens to Mozart’s music they may likely have a short improvement on spatial temporal reasoning. Spatial temporal reasoning is the ability to visualize the instruments played in a song and the musical notation.

A chemical substance used in the treatment, cure,prevention, or diagnosis of disease or used to otherwise enhance physical or mental well-being. A key factor appears to be rhythm. One reason is that neurons in the brainstem seem to fire synchronously with the tempo of sounds we hear. In a review of research on the neurochemistry of music, Levitin and his colleague Mona Lisa Chanda cited research showing that slow-tempo music can reduce heart rate, blood pressure, body temperature and other responses controlled by the brainstem. Such rhythm effects might help music combat stress and anxiety(Young). When this happens people become a more relaxed person because your breathing slows and your blood pressure drops. This is helpful in people who have depression, anxiety, etc. I know through personal experience that this statement is true. I became depressed when my mother took back my horrid step father. It allowed me to feel sad, happy, and angry all at the same time. It helped me to let things go and to learn things from the lyrics. The only way I could cope with things was talking to my friends and listening to

Billy Joel said, “I think music in itself is healing. It's an explosive expression of humanity. It's something we are all touched by. No matter what culture we're from, everyone loves music” (Music Quotes). Whether we realize it or not, music affects our lives greatly. The only thing for us to question is how. How does music impact your life and the lives of others? What does music do for us? People of all ages benefit emotionally, physically, and academically from music.

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As a lacrosse player, I always have to practice. I either shoot at my goal or throw the ball against the wall to work on my stick skills. As I walk out the door, my dad stops me in my tracks.

The Holyoake DRUMBEAT (Discovering Relationships Using Music, Beliefs, Emotions, Attitudes, & Thoughts) program is as suggested by its name a program that uses music therapy in the form of hand drumming to engage participants in the exploration of music as way to combat the negativities of substance misuse. The program aims to reduce a variety of problems associated with drug and alcohol misuse, such as poor or impaired peer relationships, disassociation from family, school, work or other community groups and assists in promoting positive mental health and wellbeing.

I have this theory that when it comes to music there is an unseen power which transforms. In in my life I have felt the influence of this power but it wasn't until the other day that I witnessed this power in action. It was through a procedure called Music Therapy where the method of treatment involves the patient listening to music. The element of music has a history of an intuitive connection that has psychologically been beneficial. Music therapy bands together the concept of music, mental health, psychological, and physiological benefits. With more examinations to estimate the advantages for this procedure more debate arises. Many are eager to

Music is composed of sounds intertwined with melody and rhythm that can have powerful effects on a person. It can help people focus on tasks or calm the mind. Research has shown that music has beneficial effects on the mind, body, and health of a person. A journal article by Rastogi, Solanki, and Zafar (2013) refers, on the contrary, to:

Mental health includes our psychological, social, and emotional well-being. It affects how we act, feel, and cope with life. Mental health affects about 26.2% of Americans ages 18 and older or about one in four adults (“The Kim Foundation, 2016”), and approximately 10% of children aged 5-16 years have a recognizable mental disorder (McDougall T, 2011). Music and emotions go hand in hand. When you think of your favorite song, it usually puts a smile on your face. Music is a powerful influence because it helps us experience feelings we might be avoiding or feelings we don’t even know are there. When ignored, our emotional health suffers. It’s hard for some people to express their emotions, especially painful or sad ones. In this paper, I will explore the benefits of music therapy and how music is a positive non-pharmacological way of coping with mental illness.

I believe in music easing the mind of stress. Many people have a coping mechanism for stress, mine is through music. Some people stop at just listening to music, but I expand even further than that. I will play it, write it, and listen to it. I can even hear Bach and Mozart begging me for me to rehearse them as I come home from a long day of school, work, and band.

There are many different ways that we benefit from music. Music can inspire better self-esteem, and confidence. It’s a great way to set the mood, and a wonderful tool. Music therapy is the clinical and evidence-based use of music interventions to accomplish individualized goals within a therapeutic relationship by a credentialed professional who has completed an approved music therapy program (Gram, 2005). Music therapy can reach out to anyone, age, race, gender it doesn’t matter. Children, adolescents, adults, and the elderly with mental health needs can benefit from music therapy. As well as, those who have developmental and learning disabilities, those who suffer from Alzheimer's

How music affects us and promotes health (2016, February 18). In eMed Expert. Retrieved from http://www.emedexpert.com/tips/music.shtml

The impact of music on positive psychology and emotion is a well known fact. Music has an extraordinary ability to change people’s emotions. In humans, music has the ability to invoke emotions of sadness, happiness and even fear. The purpose of this study was to investigate the casual relationship between music practice and participation on the emotions and well-being of male and female adults. The hypotheses for this study were as follows; Hypothesis 1: Music practice and participation has an emotional impact on individuals under study; Hypothesis 2: Preference of more music genres is positively correlated with higher levels of happiness among the population under study; Hypothesis 3: Preference of more music genres is positively correlated with emotional response among the population under study. Results of the study indicated that both age groups had a positive emotional response to music.

“The American Music Therapy Association (AMTA) defines music therapy as ‘an established health profession in which music is used within a therapeutic relationship to address physical, emotional, cognitive, and social needs of individuals’” (Barnett & Shale, 2013, p.48). Music Therapy (MT) is shown to be able to help people with many different kinds of mental health problems such as anxiety, stress, and minor cases of depression. There have been many studies done showing that MT is an effective form of therapy that can improve someone’s overall Quality Of Life (QOL). MT is known as an alternative technique therapy. It is often used instead of, or along with, medication to produce a result in the patience who need it. MT involves all aspects of the music process, including listening to, writing, singing, and analyzing music. Overall MT addresses physical and emotional problems and is used to enhance the life and health of the patient. This review is simply to inform readers of the effects music and MT has on mental health, specifically:

As the combination of different sounds travel through out ears, we tend to connect music with certain emotions or memories. For example, to feel that adrenaline rush we select a more upbeat tone in music. If you want a relaxed mood, you listen to something nice and calm with a relaxing melody. According to an article by Mental Health Center, students at Penn State did a study on music and emotions; they showed that people’s emotions have a more positive attitude after they listened to music. Music has a great