BY JESSIE WANG, LEAD WRITER (COMMUNITY AND SOCIAL AWARENESS)
Music and Mental Health
Vivid Festival
Museum of Contemporary Art, 8 June
As a musician who’s also passionate about mental health, when I saw Vivid Ideas advertise its Music and Mental Health event, it seemed almost too good to be true. And the Museum of Contemporary Art seemed to be a perfect place for it. The tiny stage was set up with three transparent chairs that had dashes of pink, and even the audience chairs looked fancier than your normal plastic chairs. Then, of course, we had the view over the harbour which, despite the rain, did not deter us from admiring it before the event commenced.
We were introduced very informally to Katherine Boydell and Sandra Garrido, who seemed to have been working together for years. Katherine specialises in music creating, and is a professor of mental health at the Black Dog Institute; while Sandra is more for music listening, and is a researcher at Western Sydney University.
Because the topic of music and mental health is so broad, the event was split into five parts: music and mental health, how music affects our emotions, music listening, music creating, and practical implications.
So here’s a recap of this interactive event, as it happened.
Music and mental health
We learnt a bit of history, first.
Traditionally, music was always intertwined with people’s lives. We have instincts to be involved with music, and even communities we now consider were ‘primal’ often had music as an important component in their everyday lives.
There’s already a lot of scientific evidence on the effects of music on stroke survivors, those with heart problems, and other physical illnesses. But, what about mental health?
Well,
the fundamental mechanism of mental health is emotion. Therefore, if music can
tap into the emotions of those experiencing mental ill health, it can improve
their conditions.
Music listening
Let’s continue on the idea of music and emotions. Are you guilty of listening to music while you’re sad? I certainly am. It makes me feel cathartic because I can let my tears out; or relieved because someone out there is feeling the same emotions as me; or even empowered because, let’s be honest, who doesn’t feel empowered when listening to Rolling in the Deep by Adele?
But listening to sad music when you’re sad might not work for people with depression.
First, we’ll unpack the differences between ‘depression’ and ‘feeling sad’. Everybody feels sad sometimes (it’s actually weird if you don’t), but the emotion is short-lived, triggered by particular events, promotes thinking realistically (for instance: ‘Okay, maybe my date didn’t go so well because I was talking all the time!’), and motivates changes in behaviour (for instance: ‘On my next date, I will talk less’).
But people with depression don’t always engage in these characteristics. Instead, the emotion is long-lasting, doesn’t have to be triggered, promotes thinking negatively about themselves and the world (for instance: ‘I am just unworthy of anybody’s love’), and doesn’t necessarily trigger behavioural changes (for instance: ‘There’s nothing I can do to gain somebody’s love because it’s my fault’).
So even though someone with depression and someone without depression may both be listening to Rolling in the Deep, it’s their thought process and behaviour that’s different.
Sandra subsequently recommended that it might not be the best idea for people with depression to listen to sad music when they are sad, and happy music might actually benefit them more. This was something I hadn’t heard before.
Sandra ended her section on music listening with this super-cool software that recognises the muscles on your face and maps different possible emotions (neutral, happy, sad, angry, surprised, scared, disgusted) to various extents. As a mother, Sandra claimed she had perfected her angry face. And this eye-opening software seemed to agree:
Music creating
This part of the event pretty much talked about what we are all-too-familiar with in the music industry – the higher rates of suicide, depression, and anxiety among those who create music. And, to my excitement, Katherine went on to comment on the necessity of creating a safe space for people in the music sector to talk about their feelings and support teach other. I smiled when I heard that. This is exactly what I envisioned when I created this.
Practical implications
We’re talking about the use of music on real people, baby! This meant many demonstrations, some of which weren’t what I would describe as ‘comfortable’, but necessary, for sure.
One of these was Hearing Voices, a project that attempted to capture the experiences of those with schizophrenia. It combined sounds people heard and experienced, and to be honest, the result was something that was anxiety-inducing. And an audience poll indicated that others had similar thoughts and feelings as me.
The next ‘practical implication’ was right here, right now. This saxophonist played a short except, and was informally asked a few questions like ‘Why did you move while you were playing?’, and ‘What were you thinking when you were playing?’. And, voila, many of his answers were related to our eight ways music can affect our emotions.
The next example was my favourite, although I may be a little biased. I had interviewed Esther Pavel-Wood about her charity Mad Music, and we have worked together ever since. The charity aims to empower those with mental illnesses rather than focus on the negative aspects, and it does this through music.
When asked about how she got whopping 12,000 followers on Instagram, Esther comments that it’s because Mad Music is more than just a page on mental health: ‘Often, apps only attract people who are already getting help and are interested. But, up to 80 per cent of young people who should get help are not. They’re not the ones to engage in apps about mental health.’
So, Mad Music’s approach is to attract them with quotes and clips and inspiration about music. Once you have dedicated followers, you can start combining mental health content, too. Again, another mind-blowing moment for me.
The final example we had was Moody Tunes, which was co-created by Katherine and Sandra’s teams, as well as many others. The app had the same approach as Mad Music – to not just drive ideas about mental health, but let users create and adapt their own music. That way, the music is bespoke to the person (because who else knows your taste in music and how it changes, other than yourself?).
Although I felt like my brain was fried as I walked out of the Museum of Contemporary Art, I felt as though the event had given me a lot of hope for this emerging field. And the presence of so many other millennials at the event reassured me that there would be many others who will be passionate about music and mental health in the future.
READ NEXT: Jessie explains 8 ways music affects our emotions, as described in Music and Mental Health
Images courtesy Jessie Wang, published with permission.
