Neuroscience and music meet in an innovative new approach to mental health: “change of mind”
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/JPMH-03-2017-0010 |
| Date | 19 June 2017 |
| Pages | 86-87 |
| Published date | 19 June 2017 |
| Author | Ben McGannan |
| Subject Matter | Health & social care,Mental health,Public mental health |
Ben McGannan
Neuroscience and music meet in an innovative new approach to mental health:
“change of mind”
The fifth annual Wellbeing Symposium, at Canterbury Christchurch University’s Augustine Hall on
22 February, saw the launch of “Change of Mind”to an audience of 300 people from the private,
public and third sectors. “Change of Mind”is a new initiative that taps the power of music to elicit
empathy and thereby encourage a more supportive workplace environment for sufferers from
mental health problems.
The “Change of Mind”project resulted from collaboration between Wellbeing People, founders
of the Symposium, and Science in Music (SiM), whose goal is to use the power of music to
popularise science-based knowledge. SiM previously developed a CD and movie called
“The Neuro Files”–a musical journey through numerous brain regions –that showcases some of
the many functions performed by the brain. Its sequel, “Change of Mind”, is a CD of 20 songs
concerning mental health problems resulting from brain-system malfunctions.
Wellbeing People had the idea of using eight of the songs concerning more frequently
encountered conditions –e.g. depression, anxiety, anorexia –as the basis for a new tool
to help deal with problems encountered in the workplace. The fruit of that thinking, its new
“Change of Mind”workshop series, consists of up to eight modules, each focussing on a single
mental health condition.
Every module is catalysed by one song from the “Change of Mind”CD that evokes what it feels
like to suffer from the particular condition under discussion. Course moderators help attendees
of the workshops to recognise the feelings of sufferers by exploring both the emotional import
of the music and the sem antic content of th e lyrics. They go on to ex plain why the condit ion
arises, how it might be recognised, and what colleagues can do to help in the workplace.
The key goal is to improve workplace resilience by improving team support for sufferers on the
basis of empathy.
The course has a d istinctly neuroscient ific orientation. Its technical content waslargely drawn from
the CD notes on each condition, which were vetted for accuracy by a distinguished professor of
psychiatry. Whilst not denying the role of life experiences in triggering symptoms, the course
emphasises that many mental health problems have roots in genetic predispositions, structural
damage, disrupted brain systems, and biochemical deficits or imbalances. Consequently, they are
often medical diagnoses, and not the consequence of personal shortcomings.
The “Change of Mind”concept was presented to the Wellbeing Symposium by Charlotte
Wiseman, a trained course moderator. She described her experience, during 14 years in the
fashion industry, of seeing people bullied and excluded on account of eating disorders, or
constructivelydismissed for sufferingfrom depression. Her passionfor delivering “Change of Mind”
was, she said, in part driven by such experiences.
To demonstrate the musical stimulus, Wiseman played the packed audience an emotionally
charged piece called “Give Me Peace”, evoking the experience of suffering from depression.
She described how, in trials, most listeners had been emotionally affected by the music, and
some extremely moved. The minority who were more resistant to empathising were nevertheless
able to benefit by engaging with the content cerebrally.
Wiseman emphasised that the aims of the course were to use heightened empathy as a
springboard for sharing knowledge about the nature of the featured mental health conditions,
and to encourage greater support from colleagues for sufferers. She likened a workplace team to
Ben McGannan is the
Managing Director at Wellbeing
People, Tonbridge, UK.
PAG E 86
j
JOURNAL OF PUBLIC MENTAL HEALTH
j
VOL. 16 NO. 2 2017, pp. 86-87, © Emerald Publishing Limited, ISSN 1746-5729 DOI 10.1108/JPMH-03-2017-0010
Public health case study
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