Depressing music

I find that music can really affect my mood as well Mark. But it's often not just the type of music but the memories the music evokes - especially certain songs or bands that you associate with a particular memory or emotion.

Graham

Absolutely Graham, a 'happy' piece of music can evoke sadness if it has become associated with either a happy time no longer there or a former sad time.

I think the research cited above may be a little OTT in the sense that the music is some how deemed offensive to minority groups.

But I think the material we surround ourselves with plays an important part in the nature of our moods. The more news we watch, and downbeat music and negative people we hang around with the more we suffer. Not to say we can't stand aside from our environment to some extent but elements of our environment do affect us.

Mark

Yes, a nice spoof article, I particularly laughed at the GNAW president's name Pat Coprolite!!

Ones environment is only an influence, it isn't a determining factor...

I think that one reason why suggestions like this is a bit laughable is that they often dont consider that people will listen to the music in question as a chosen means of emotional regulation. When parrents complain about the music that their teenage kids listen to, they often invalidate the emotions driving the behavior.

Apart from that i think that music should be considered a first choice psychological tool.

I always like the theosophical take on music which traces historic cultural/psychological devellepments to musical origins. The english composer Cyril Scott was also a theosophist and wrote a book on the esoteric influence of music, supposedly in cooperation with one of the masters of wisdom, Koot Hoomi. Chapter titels like "Beethoven, sympathy and psychoanalysis". "the Mendelssonian symphaty", "Robert Schumann and the child nature", "Chopin, the pre-raphaelites and the emancipation of women" will give you an idea of the project.

I tend to think of my own favorite composer, Shostakovich, in terms of emotional dysregulation and the suffering og people with personality disorders. Not that i think that poor Shostakovich had one, but he was living under the constant scrutiny of Stalin and suffered imensly for it.
In times of depression i have sometimes lost all affinity with normal cheerfull music but found a deep source of validation in his twisted music.

not only music, but anything like a smell or sound can take a mental stamp in time, I think everyone has experienced this, for example if you had a favorite song you listened over a peroid of 2-3 months a lot some time during you life say 3 years ago and you have went 3 years w/o hearing it and it comes on, it can just take you back to how u felt 3 years ago, and brings back old feelings and memories you havent felt since the last time you heard that.

but yes for certain emotions I feel music really helps, I think it can help you vent out emotions in whatever direction you want if you have an understanding of what music affects you in what ways,

i find music to be a catalyst for anything i want. i listen to heavy metal, and ive found that if i want to go to sleep, it will help me do so, but at the same time if i want to become energetic it will help with this as well. As for moods, if I'm angry the music enrages me, if I'm upset the music will fuel my frustrations, and if im happy the music will only lift my spirits even higher.

i also find Patsy Clines music make me feel strongly suicidal

I always find that music to "help you relax" classical music etc makes me more sad , but I do find some music that usually makes me feel upbeat but not alot. The one that does for me is "Aint nobody by Chaka Khan" I know alot people wont know this one, but when Im feeling ok it can make me feel as if I could conqur the world shame i cant