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How to Address the Challenges of Mental Health Through Creativity

In celebration of World Mental Health Day 2024, we spoke with Chartered Psychologist Dr Claire Renfrew, who shared her expertise in How to Address the Challenges of Mental Health Through Creativity.

As a specialist in Music Psychology, Dr Renfrew has extensive hands-on experience working with songwriters, composers, performers, and musicians in the music industry and academia.

Here, she explores how music therapy can address mental health challenges, how creativity can enhance cognitive ability, and how music can regulate mood.

Mental Health Challenges

The vast majority of us have encountered mental health challenges in our lives or know someone who has. While we are all unique individuals with varied life experiences, it is a common reaction for us to view music and creativity as a means of solace when we require a form of support from the pressures of everyday life. Earlier this year The Guardian reported on the surge in mental illness among young people as they face ‘unprecedented’ challenges. These include social and educational inequality, unregulated social media, insecure employment status and climate concerns, to name a few. However, there are different ways in which to enhance healing and self-care through the means of music and creativity.

Benefits Of Creativity

Music and creative processes are fundamental to positive mental health and well-being. Both music
and creativity magnify beneficial elements in one’s life, such as; motivation for physical activity,
healthy sleep patterns, enhancement in learning and acknowledgement of one’s identity alongside
freedom of expression. Creativity is the organisation and dissemination of ideas and
expressions to generate something unique, showing how it can be a testing yet advantageous activity.

Additionally, creativity encourages social development, while creative collaborations have many positive benefits for mental health. Social interactions improve mood and general well-being. Creating music together has proven to increase confidence in abilities while encouraging emotional expressions and a sense of social accomplishment and achievement. Creativity also encourages emotional fulfilment and organisational skills, often encouraging sophisticated communication skills and divergent thinking.

Music As Therapy

Music therapy is commonly used to tackle mental health issues. This form of creative therapy utilises
music and sounds to aid individuals in improving their quality of life alongside managing a range of
different conditions such as stress, anxiety and insomnia. Music therapy can take place in a clinical
setting in collaboration with a trained music therapist to decide the best course of treatment for the
individual.

An example of music therapy used in a clinical setting is singing, which has been identified as a powerful tool in studies relating to Dementia and Alzheimer’s. Alternatively, music can also be used as a form of therapy in most settings (for example, home or work). It is accessible to all as it can be led by the individual who can mould the therapy to fit into their busy schedules. Due to the fluid nature of music therapy, it is a very individualistic approach to healing and one that can positively impact many mental health challenges.

Wellbeing & Healing

Furthermore, it has been found that creative acts such as engineering, music production and
improvisation positively impact well-being and encourage healing. These creative activities can
increase mood, form social connections and reduce stress and anxiety. Music is often also used as an
emotional regulator. This can be seen through online playlists, allowing individuals to select what mood they would like to experience while listening.

The algorithms analyse a song’s structures and components to understand what mood it is trying to convey. Playlists are constructed based on the mood the listener is choosing to experience. This experience can be encountered worldwide as music has a central role in all cultures and is ubiquitous. It can be a collective and an individual listening occurrence that positively influences physiological and psychological processes.

Music-Making: Songwriting & Production

Music-making activities such as songwriting can be viewed as a way to tackle some mental health
challenges. This is because it allows individuals to reflect on their present and past selves whilst
making sense of their lived experiences. Songwriting also enhances cognitive abilities by actively
encouraging memory recall and retention. The emotional expression associated with writing songs
provides a vehicle to self-express through a safe and secure medium.

Additionally, it is an accessible activity that allows people from different backgrounds to view their internal thoughts constructively. This enables people to gain clarity and insight, which they can share with others. Songwriting allows one to tell their story, be it positive or negative. Music production is another music-making activity that intertwines self-expression and creativity but in a more structured setting. Music creation through the means of production has been known to reduce emotional and psychological stress while at the same time developing social interactions.

Can you train your brain to be more creative?

Ultimately yes! It is possible to train your brain to become more creative. Mindfulness meditation
and mindful growth allows individuals to start thinking more creatively. You can expand your cognitive abilities by learning through different creative activities and your surrounding creative communities. Allowing yourself to have a starting point to build upon through whatever means works best for you. Music and creativity are vehicles for learning other skills and are incredibly beneficial in tackling mental health issues. Today, on World Mental Health Day 2024, Dr Claire Renfrew is encouraging us all to stay active: