How Songwriting Improves Mental Health
The process of creating music allows people to express their innermost thought in a socially acceptable manner. Multiple studies confirm that songwriting does indeed alter the neural structure and neural wiring of the brain.
Victims of abuse or people who have faced other adversity use music as a language to express their feeling without much scrutiny. According to professor Felicity Baker from the University of Melbourne, the concept of therapeutic songwriting is used across one’s entire life span. Her research suggests adolescents with PTSD write rap songs over existing instrumentals or beats made by younger composers. The original authors help in supervising the writing process of older people with dementia.
By creating change to a certain extent, therapeutic songwriting focus on driving tangible outcomes. Traditional forms of songwriting aim to create a catchy hook or pre-hook. On the other hand, therapeutic songwriting enables people to reflect on their struggles and how it has changed their present lives.
Another motive in therapeutic songwriting could be to change the behavior of others or their way of thinking. Overall, songwriting can engage and impact a person beyond the songwriting process. Songs created in therapy can often serve a greater purpose as agents of change in family experiences, community standards, and public policy.
Multiple studies confirm that songwriting does indeed alter the neural structure and neural wiring of the brain. Creative writing stimulates both the prefrontal cortex, the bilateral temporal lobe structure, and the right anterior insular cortex. The prefrontal cortex is heavily involved in higher cognitive functions such as switching attention, working memory and maintaining social interaction boundaries.
The right anterior insular cortex, on the other hand, aids in psychological awareness, such as being able to time one’s heartbeat. The bilateral temporal lobe structure, which is related to memory retrieval and episodic memory, is also activated due to the creative writing process.
As a result, songwriting can help people recall difficult or traumatic memories suppressed due to existing mental conditions. Therapeutic songwriting therapy enables a medium for a patient’s flow of thoughts using the brain’s multiple areas.
Songwriting enables the activation of parts of the brain associated with both cognitive and emotions. It also allows for a smooth flowing expression of thoughts and for revealing difficult thoughts and memories. Although in need of more professional support, Songwriting music therapy is an essential factor to consider if other forms of treatment are deemed ineffective for a patient.