MUSIC AND MENTAL HEALTH: MUSIC LISTENING AND MUSIC CREATING
This event has now passed
When: June 8, 2019 at 2:00 pm
What: An interactive talk at Vivid Ideas
Where: Warrane Theatre, Museum of Sydney
Have you ever pondered the inextricable link between science and music? Have you ever noticed how much music affects your mood? What impact do music listening and music creating have on our mental health? How can a music app help to manage depression? This Vivid Ideas event invites you to explore music on a different level when leading Australian researchers Sandra Garrido (WesternSydney University) and Katherine Boydell (Black Dog Institute)lend their expertise to the role of music in breakthrough scientific studies on music and mental health.
Sandra will focus on her research on music listening and Katherine will talk about her research on music making.For most people, listening to music–even music expressing negative emotions like sadness or anger–can be an effective way to deal with emotions. Across several studies involving more than 1,000 people, Garrido and colleagues found that there are many ways that people can use sad music to help themselves feel better. Some seem to just really get into the music and enjoy the emotional journey. Others can use the music for catharsis, to feel emotional connection with others, to help them work through feelings of sadness or think about how to overcome difficulties.In terms of creating music, research tells us that almost 75% of musicians and people in the music industry identify as having suffered from anxiety and panic attacks, and 68.5% from depression.
Boydell and colleagues work in using arts in the research process involved working with musicians, and exploring the ‘dangerous emotional terrain’ when working with extremely sensitive material based on in-depth interviews with young people impacted by psychosis. Audience members will be able to listen to the original score created as a result and respond to creating music in response to research findings.
Garrido and Boydell will also talk about their recent collaboration which involves working closely with young people with depression to co-develop an online program and mobile app ‘Moody Tunes’ that will use music to help young people understand their depression and how to manage it. App developers will be present to provide a demonstration of the app and detail its co-creation! The audience will have an opportunity to respond and provide feedback.
