I’ve always believed our brains try to find a way to help us out. When clients come to me feeling low, one of the questions I ask is...
“What seems to help?”
The client usually manages to reel off at least a couple
of things that seem to lift their mood slightly, quite often to their own
surprise.
We as humans want to be happy and healthy, and our brain and
body is doing the best it can in the background.
Some people genuinely do already have or create for
themselves a negative chemical change in the brain, which can lead to feelings
attached to depression.
Others have irrational or rational fears and worries that
don’t seem to leave their heads bringing them down in a spiral of depression.
Breaking that cycle of constant woe and gloom is extremely difficult and seems impossible for some.
So what if there was an easy and regular way to actually
affect the pathways and chemicals in the brain physically? How much would that
give us a boost out of depressive states?
It has been discovered that sounds such as music are capable
of reliably affecting moods and emotions by affecting the dopamine in the brain (so they suspect). Dopamine is a neurotransmitter heavily involved in emotional
behaviour and mood regulation.
Depending on your genetics though depends on what type of
sound or piece of music is most effective at stimulating your individual
dopamine.
You may well enjoy listening to heavy rock, when all you actually need to lift your spirits is a spot of Bach!
“We are really excited about our results because they suggest that even a non-pharmacological intervention such as music, might regulate mood and emotional responses at both the behavioural and neuronal level," says Professor Elvira Brattico.
Can you
imagine... soon we might find ourselves getting referred by our GP for a
‘personalised music-based intervention’ for the treatment of depression and
anxiety rather than taking anti depressant and anti anxiety drugs.
I
personally have seen many teenagers walking around with their earphones in, are
they already self-medicating without consciously realising it?
I have also
had many clients that find music an important part of their relaxation regime.
Do we already know this deep down? Perhaps music just didn’t seem to be a viable or strong enough cure?
My son is
taking a Music Degree, and is considering taking that work and combining it
with psychology to be a specialist in Music Therapy. He believes in the power of music and this has certainly opened my eyes up to it.
Isn’t it amazing how sometimes the cure can simply be right under our nose... or in this case next to our ears!!
So if you haven’t already compiled your favourite
‘feel-good’ music list, it’s scientifically proven to be beneficial. Keeping
your music choice diverse is key, perhaps you’ll notice how much more lifted
you feel after particular genres of music and then get more of the same.
Task: Try listening to a diverse choice of music twice a day
and see how your moods are affected to get your ultimate dopamine affecting
compilation.
Written by Sam Crook Director at Therapy for Life.
www.therapyforlife.co.uk
Written by Sam Crook Director at Therapy for Life.
www.therapyforlife.co.uk
