10 Songs To Promote Personal Mental Health: An Essay.

Create a playlist to promote your own personal health – either physical or mental health. To do this, you will carefully choose music that suits the purpose of the playlist and draw on concepts and theory covered in lectures to strategically organize the order of songs.

The Power of Music and Mental Health

The purpose of this report is to enlighten the reader about some of the songs that can help a person in improving their mental health and becoming strong mentally. Mental health includes emotional, psychological and social well-being that helps a person in becoming capable to face the external environment. Mental illness affects the way of thinking of a person along with the way that they feel or act in the society. Every person in the current environment has their specific ways with the help of which they feel relief in their mind. Mental illness can be a reason for physical illness as well so it is crucial for people to find out ways that can help them to calm their minds. The given report includes a playlist of ten songs that I believe help me and might help other people also in maintaining their mental health. Depending upon the different taste of people, some might enjoy dancing for improving their mental health and some might love listening to songs. In addition, it should be noted that the choice of songs also depends upon the discretion of people. When I started selecting songs for my playlist, then I found that there are many songs that help me in boosting up my morale and motivate me. However, there are only a few songs that actually touched my soul and help me in calming down my mind. I found out 10 songs in total are the best songs that help me in improving my mental strength (Schäfer, Sedlmeier, Städtler, & Huron, 2013).

Afterwards, I began to listen to these songs one by one using my headphones. While listening to these songs I realized that I am in a different zone when I listen to these songs through my headphones on. This show the songs were chosen is best of my interest because it helps me forget everything for a while and live in the moment. I have chosen each song according to my different moods; all songs together help me to be happy, calm and thankful in every type of situation. While stressing on mental strength, lyrics of the songs plays the key role in helping them to listen to it. Along with the lyrics, the tempo of the song and music also binds the interest of the listener to listen to the song (MacDonald, Kreutz, & Mitchell, 2013). Every person has their own playlist set that they like to listen in their ‘me time'. Me time refers to the time at which a person is alone and he/ she want to relax on their own to reduce the level of stress. This playlist includes songs that are irreparable with time, some songs can be added to the list but not deleted. These songs remain in my playlist as they help me in enhancing my mental skills but keeping my thought calm and making me a stronger person than yesterday. Further, more details about the report along with the explanation of the song are discussed below:

The Playlist: Song by Song

Youtube., Hymn for the weekend. Retrieved from 24 August 2018 from <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YykjpeuMNEk>

Coldplay along with Beyoncé composed the song that I have selected first for my playlist. This song is a cheerful yet subtle as well. This song is based on the love, god and life that states that some positive source (naming angel) helps the dreadful person to relive their life peacefully. This song gives hopes to a negative person to relive their life properly (Kearns, Kingsbury, & Andrews, 2016). The lyrics of the songs are best suited to help a person boost up their mood and the beat and the combination of tune gives a cheerful feeling as well. It is indeed a hymn for the weekend that makes me more and more in love with it whenever I listen to this song (Youtube, 2018).

Youtube., See you Again. Retrieved from 24 August 2018 from <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RgKAFK5djSk >

The second songs selected for my playlist is ‘See You Again' by Charlie Puth and Wiz Khalifa. Just like the above mentioned, the lyrics of this song are very peaceful and helps in giving positivity to oneself. This song is best for very mood type and helps in releasing stress and having faith in life as well. The variations in the song keep the mind integrated with the lyrics and relate it as well. Further, the theory of music, mood and movement also states that the combination of music with many daily activities of life helps in improving the health of a person as well. The theory states that is a significant relationship between the music and health of a person as music increases the concentration level of the person and grow as well (Youtube, 2018).

Youtube., Scars to your beautiful. Retrieved from 24 August 2018 from <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MWASeaYuHZo>

This song by Alessia Cara is one of the best songs in the whole playlist. The song is joyous yet inspiring and motivational as well. The lyrics of the song are so touchy that every person that is ever body shamed or have an inferiority complex for their body can relate to. The lyrics of the song are strong and the background music is so powerful that it constantly attracts the interest of the listener and help them in developing confidence within themselves as well (Lin, Yang, Lai,Y., Su, Yeh, Huang, & Chen, 2011). Relating it the theory offered by Falk 2004, he said that humming and listening to a song develops a personal relationship with people just like an infant and mother. Similarly, this song helps in relating people to each other and attaining comfortability in their own skin (Youtube, 2018).

Youtube., Photograph. Retrieved from 24 August 2018 from <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nSDgHBxUbVQ>

This song of Ed Sheeran takes me to a different time zone sometimes. This song is like a short movie that is slowly growing and the background subtle guitar beat is constantly giving a soft and soothing feeling to the minds. The slowly growing pace of the song helps me in lighting up my mood with every transition. Dissanayake, 2009 proposed a theory that states that music helps people in coming up with the life's transistorizes. The theory also states that the music helps in dissolving the human anxieties. This song contributed to my mental health by helping in forgetting my problems and looking for a solution and finding ways to smile in any situation. The song taught me that love and memories created by love last forever (Youtube, 2018).

Hymn for the Weekend

Youtube., Locked Away. Retrieved from 24 August from < https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6GUm5g8SG4o >

Adam Levine is one of the most inspiring songs that talks about the importance of or I can say the insignificance of materialistic things in life. It is important for a person to love freely without looking at the money matters. Also, the song taught me that it is important to hold on the people who open up to us because they are the real people to cherish. According to the statement issued by Frith, people hear music on the basis of their feelings, and such songs defy the mundane and take us out of ourselves and put us somewhere else. The lyrics and the music of the song are defining the questionable aspects of life and helps in resolving issues by prioritizing things in life. Such songs answer the questions of life (Youtube, 2018).

Youtube., When We Were Young. Retrieved from 24 August from <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hef9UEHQisY>

This song is a part of the Passenger album that talks about the faded time that has become a memory now. The song has a good meaning that helps the listener to revive the old good memories. It helps the listener to look back at the past and remembers some good moments that automatically brings a smile to their face. Even when I have faced some good bad things in the past, still this song helps me in reliving all those past moments and remember them in a good way (Youtube, 2018).

Youtube., 7 Years. Retrieved from 24 August. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LHCob76kigA>

Lukas Graham composed this song in a beautiful way that helped me in understanding how life goes on. Every song selected in this playlist have a significant meaning so does this song have. This song depicts the way in which life of a normal person goes on, with the help of this song I forget to look back at the past and focus on my future and aim to brighten (Miranda, Gaudreau, Debrosse, Morizot, & Kirmayer, 2012). The irony to the above-mentioned song of Passenger, song motivated me starting every day fresh with hope to succeed in life. Merriam proposed 10 social functions music can serve (e.g., emotional expression, communication, and symbolic representation) that helps a person to grow individually (Youtube, 2018).

Youtube., Titanium. Retrieved from 24 August. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JRfuAukYTKg

Unlike other songs mentioned in the playlist, this song has a higher speed and pitch but it is the best song of all times. This is the best song to motivate a person and bring life within them. As discussed in the theories mentioned above, the lyrics work well with the fast beat of the song that helps in boosting up the mental capabilities of a person (DeNora, 2016). While I listen to this song, I sing with all of my lungs that help me to pour out all the negativities of life and becoming confident and calm from inside. Whenever I feel weak, I listen to this song to regain my lost energies and again focus on my goal of life. (Youtube, 2018).

See you Again

Youtube., Don't you worry child. Retrieved from 24 August. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1y6smkh6c-0 

This song has a hidden meaning that helps me in boosting my mental capabilities. This statement is not true that mental health can only be satisfied by listening to soft music, sometimes, upper scale pitch songs also motivate a person from within and calm their minds as well. Just like this song, it gives a ray hope that; this song also helps in erasing my stress of things and relieving my tension as well. The lyrics of the song hit my mind and make me unable to think about something else and trust in heaven to make things happen (Youtube, 2018).

Youtube., God’s Plan. Retrieved from 24 August. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xpVfcZ0ZcFM

This song sung by Drake is my current favourite song because it is different from all the songs mentioned in the playlist.  More than just music, this song is about its lyrics. The lyrics of the song in the voice of Drake gives hope to the people to live and love life. Every person suffers in their life but they should hold on to their life because God has better plans for them. According to a survey done by Boer 2009, there ten specific feelings for which a person creates their playlist and this playlist includes aspects namely, emotion, friends, family, venting, background, dancing, focus, values, politic, and culture (Youtube, 2018).

Conclusion

Thus, in the limelight of the above-mentioned events, the fact should be noted that the above-mentioned report discussed a playlist that can help a person in strengthening their mental abilities in the external environment. Every person has their own way of improving their mental health and listening to songs is one of the best ways that helps me in coming up with the atrocities of life. The ten songs listed in the playlist depict a significant emotion that helps a person in improving their mental health. Listening to these songs eliminates the confusions present in the head and helping in calming down the thought process as well. By listening to these songs, I get into a different tie zone where it’s just me and no worries of life. As stated in the different theories mentioned above, music helps in receiving good thoughts by eliminating the negatives ones; it helps a person in becoming happier and mentally stable as well. 

References

DeNora, T. (2016). Music asylums: Wellbeing through music in everyday life. UK: Routledge.

Kearns, R., Kingsbury, P., & Andrews, G. J. (2016). Introduction. In Soundscapes of Wellbeing in Popular Music(pp. 17-36). UK: Routledge.

Lin, S. T., Yang, P., Lai, C. Y., Su, Y. Y., Yeh, Y. C., Huang, M. F., & Chen, C. C. (2011). Mental health implications of music: insight from neuroscientific and clinical studies. Harvard review of psychiatry, 19(1), 34-46.

MacDonald, R., Kreutz, G., & Mitchell, L. (Eds.). (2013). Music, health, and wellbeing. UK: Oxford University Press.

Miranda, D., Gaudreau, P., Debrosse, R., Morizot, J., & Kirmayer, L. J. (2012). Music listening and mental health: variations on internalizing psychopathology. Music, health and wellbeing, 513-530.

Schäfer, T., Sedlmeier, P., Städtler, C., & Huron, D. (2013). The psychological functions of music listening. Frontiers in psychology, 4, 511.

Youtube., 7 Years. Retrieved from 24 August. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LHCob76kigA>

Youtube., Don't you worry child. Retrieved from 24 August. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1y6smkh6c-0 

Youtube., God’s Plan. Retrieved from 24 August. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xpVfcZ0ZcFM

Youtube., Locked Away. Retrieved from 24 August from < https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6GUm5g8SG4o >

Youtube., Photograph. Retrieved from 24 August 2018 <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nSDgHBxUbVQ>

Youtube., Scars to your beautiful. Retrieved from 24 August 2018 <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MWASeaYuHZo>

Youtube., See you Again. Retrieved from 24 August 2018 <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RgKAFK5djSk >

Youtube., Titanium. Retrieved from 24 August. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JRfuAukYTKg

Youtube., When We Were Young. Retrieved from 24 August <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hef9UEHQisY>