How Uplifting Music Can Boost Mental Health

I listen to music everyday. No matter where I go theres always music playing; the stores, church, car, etc. Music is a part of my daily life. It motivates me to do and finsih things. I can’t do my homework without listening to music otherwise I begin to procastinate. “A Stanford study shows that music engages areas of the brain which are involved with paying attention, making predictions and updating events in our

Studies show that males who express feelings through music show less activity in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), while females show increased activity in the mPFC. Studies also show music therapy can lead to reduced heart rate, respiratory rate, blood pressure, and depressed moon in adult women with depression.

This article reveals how Don Campbell, the author of “The Mozart Effect,” believes that listening to music can

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.

It has long been believed that music can evoke specific thoughts and feelings from the listener. But can music –specifically the music of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart- summon hidden intelligences within the human brain? That is the question scientists are trying to answer. In the mid-nineties, scientists, Frances Rauscher, Gordon Shaw and Katherine Ky, claimed that music could boost the listener’s intelligence up to 9 points (Steele 2). To many, this allegation seemed a bit far-fetched and soon other researchers began recreating the Rauscher, Shaw, and Ky experiment in hopes of discrediting their findings. The conclusions that resulted confirmed that the skeptics were right: the evidence was inconclusive and revealed that music did not make the

Mozart’s music is believed to beneficial for expecting mothers and their unborn children and also for toddlers. However, there are many who believe that children emulate or copy the adults around them. The Mozart Effect implies an immediate and miraculous boost in brain power. It claims to have substantial benefits on the well-being of premature babies. “While neuroscientists have largely dismissed the "Mozart effect" myth that listening to music enhances mental skills, practicing and performing musical compositions does seem to elevate certain cognitive capabilities”. The article explains how we are able to benefit from music, and how it enhances our brain and reasoning. Music therapy does appear to help alleviate several brain maladies. Mozart’s music is beneficial not only for mothers and their unborn children but also for adults [Siegfried]. Experts believe the Mozart

Psychological issues affect people with symptoms of depression and/or anxiety. Depression is a condition in which a person’s main emotions withdraw and there is a prolonged sadness over a long period of time. Main causes of depression consist of abuse in one’s lifetime, horrific or tragic events and or certain medications. “About 121 million people world-wide are believed to suffer from depression” (Naurt, 2008). Symptoms consist of low self esteem, disturbed sleep habits, appetite loss and the feeling of being not wanted; “It can lead to suicide and is associated with 1 million deaths a year” (Naurt, 2008). Antidepressants are the common treatment for depression, but music therapy is becoming increasingly popular. The biological perspective on the anti-depressants given to patients diagnosed with depression can have very horrific side effects. One such group of anti-depressants is Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs): “…there is also an established direct link between suicide and violent behavior and the use of SSRIs” (Tyrell, 2001). Most people stop using anti-depressants because of the drugs’ side effects. The SSRIs are just one example of malicious effects anti-depressant drugs that can create on people. Another research study completed by Kikuchi, Mimura, Suzuki, Uchida and Watanabe (2013), affirms their hypothesis that antidepressants has profound negative effects on patients with

“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:

While playing in or listening to a symphony, orchestra, or band, people do not only make or listen to beautiful music, but they get to experience many positive side effects. Michael Jolkovski (2013), a man who studies music, says, “It [music] can satisfy the need to unwind from the worries of life, but unlike the other things people often use for this purpose, such as excessive eating, drinking, or TV or aimless web browsing, it makes people more alive and connected with one another (1).” This statement shows how stress levels lower when one plays music. Both

An important topic in psychology for many decades now has been the influence of music on the cognitive processing of the brain. Cognitive processes include attention, memory, producing and understanding language, solving problems, and making decisions. Recent advances in technology have revealed that music has a heavy effect on the brain’s affective, cognitive, and motor components. Evidence has been found to support the idea that music can alter the topography of the brain which improves memory and strengthens the skill of understanding language. This fact is something many educators are beginning to take advantage of. Not only does music improve the aforementioned, it also allows for quick access and recovery of information

In 1993 a study was conducted on undergraduates from the Psychology Department of the University of California, Irvine. In this study students listened to ten minutes of Mozart. The result being that after listening to Mozart’s Sonata for Two Pianos K448, these test subjects scored significantly higher in spatial reasoning skills, in fact, the participants’ spatial IQ scores rose 8 to 9 points. Unfortunately, the results of this single exposure were found to be short-term, only lasting 10 to 15 minutes (Rauscher, Shaw & Ky, 1993). Out of this one study grew an entire industry as parents, anxious to turn their children into baby geniuses, purchased product after product of classical music designed to enhance the cognitive progress through the “Mozart Effect.” In addition, educators, quickly jumped on board this Mozart train. Programs were funded and initiatives initiated all to take advantage of this new discovery, much to the chagrin of music scholars who saw the funding of music programs for cognitive development as an erosion of classical music education (cite). Can listening to music make you smarter? Since 1993 when

Music affects my mood by the tempo or whether I like the song or not.

The mind is greatly impacted by music by showing healthful changes (www.bellaonline.com/articles/). Doctors now use music for their patients’ treatments in order to help them stay healthy (www.bellaonline.com/articles/). Heart patients acquired the same benefits from listening to classical music for thirty minutes as they did from anti-anxiety medication (www.bellaonline.com/articles/). Musical therapy has been used to help people with heart problems, which worked quite effectively. (www.bellaonline.com/articles/). People who have had migraines frequently, were trained to use music and relaxing procedures to reduce their headaches. Studies have also shown that music helps students with their intelligence levels (www.bellaonline.com/articles/). A majority of students had higher test scores than others because they listened to Mozart before their exam. People who listened to classical music for an hour and a half while revising manuscripts increased their accuracy by 21% (www.bellaonline.com/articles) (Mish 725.).

Music elicits an emotional and cognitive response in all who listen to it. It is powerful at the individual level because “it can induce multiple responses – physiological, movement, mood, emotional, cognitive, and behavioral” (Francis, 2008,

The Mozart-Effect is the concept that listening to classical music at an early age helps make children smarter. It has long been held that learning a musical instrument also helps develop the brain differently, and can improve math ability specifically. Over the past two decades people have wondered whether or not the Mozart-effect really works. Will listening to classical music or learning how to play an instrument increase a person’s intelligence? If so, how does it affect a person’s intelligence? Dean Keith Simonton presented a chart in “The Science of Genius,” both Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven were considered geniuses and they are both composers of classical music. This article made me think what if listening to classical music affects a person’s intelligence, or could learning to play an instrument help a person’s intelligence? Also, what led me to this area of investigation was that my dad always played classical music for me since I was born, and when I had to take an IQ test I scored a 132, so I wanted to know if listening to classical music over the years has helped me to become smarter. The Mozart-effect can improve a person’s spatial memory after listening to classical music for about fifteen minutes a day, every day.