Music. It’s meditative, relaxing, therapeutic, stimulating, cultural, and acts as a communication channel.
The sound itself vibrates with each one of us internally. When the metronome of the tune syncs with the acting stimuli in the brain it enhances, alters or mediates our thoughts, feelings, and reactions towards different situations.
When we hear the music of different genres: funk, hip-hop, rock, jazz fusion, EDM, and so on. It interacts with different stimuli. Funk is known to promote people to dance, which is broken down into four different factors: valence, entertainment, enjoyment, and irritation. People will start to dance when the first three factors are spiked and the last one is reduced, so long as the listener can synchronize with the groove.
Each individual has their own relationship with music just like those who are recovering from addiction. The relationship one has with their addiction is unique to themselves. Yes, there are general practices that have been known to assist with the recovery process, but those practices affect each person differently. People will use music for their own personal use.
Such as gym-rats will listen to music that gets them fired up (metal, rap, hip-hop) while students will listen to music that lets them zero-in on their homework (ambient, jazz, hip-hop).
After all, music has a pull on our emotional state and it helps manage our emotions. The therapeutic benefits of listening to music will promote:
- A reduction in stress, anxiety, and depression
- An enhanced mood
- Motivation
- Healing psychologically
Music acts as a communication channel creating relatability with the listener through their lyrics. Sadly, Substance use disorder is active in almost every music community, which explains the commonality of drug-related in lyrics.
Regardless, utilizing music to help recover from substance use disorder spikes our creative energies. It promotes freedom of expression and music discussion helps people find their own jams for individual relaxation.
Music.
