The Effects of COVID-19 on: Society
On January 30 of 2020, for the sixth time in its history, the World Health Organization (WHO) ordered the Organization’s highest alert level: A Public Health Emergency of International Importance. Since then, the new Coronavirus, called COVID-19, was officially an international emergency [1], declared a pandemic due to its global- geographical distribution. [2] Most people were instructed or even forced by their local authorities to stay inside (e.g. Italy, the first country in Europe to enter lockdown); they were not allowed to leave their household, meet their friends and family and sometimes even go out to buy food and essentials. This scenario was reinforced over and over again for the past year, for the physical wellbeing of people. Despite the necessary attention on our physical health, one thing we overlooked was our mental health. The effects of COVID-19 on: Mental Health During the COVID-19 pandemic, many people experienced anxiety, stress, and depression, for they lost their loved ones, their jobs or just experienced a higher level of loneliness than usual. This resulted in a vicious cycle: an increasing number of people started drinking alcohol, smoking tobacco, and using illegal drugs. Without realizing it, some became addicts. [3] Comparative analyses suggest that this pandemic will have a substantial effect on children’s mental health as well. First, children become aware of the virus. Second, they unknowingly experience acute stress reactions, adjustment issues and even insomnia, paranoid traits and disruptive behavior as they attempt to cope with lockdown (since they can’t go to school to meet their friends, play outside or visit their grandparents). Teens can also experience the same reactions, even going as far as having suicidal thoughts. These reactions could give rise to self‐protective attitudes, lack of motivation, concentration, as well as mental health issues such as post‐traumatic stress disorders, depressive and avoidant personality traits. [4] MT (Musical Therapy) to the Rescue Music became the instrument of rescue, and the musician became the giver of a new lease on life, hence the birth of Musical Therapy (MT). The idea that music was in some measure a privileged means of communication, a bridge between the human and the divine, alleviating human distress through its capacity to bring forth the power of God, has never entirely vanished from our collective consciousness. [3] MT (or Musical Therapy) has been shown to play an important role in helping address physical symptoms and psychological distress, as well as being a new unique way for curing addiction. MT is also used to reduce distress at work, to improve mood, performance, attention and concentration [5] Although no studies have been conducted so far with a focus on MT support intervention to COVID patients, homemade MT has been prevalent in our society since lockdown. Homemade Musical Therapy (MT): a Solace Artist are known to write out of experience, but in taking a look at this year’s music charts, it is clear that despite many quarantine and COVID-19 related songs being released, only two got high ranking in the charts: Level of Concern by Twenty One Pilots (No. 1 on Billboard’s US Hot Rock & Alternative Songs and No. 11 on Billboard’s US Adult Top 40) and Stuck with U by Justin Bieber and Ariana Grande (debuted No.1 on the Billboard Hot 100). These songs were released in April and May respectively, when coronavirus cases were at their peak, nevertheless, the fact that they were released by mainstream musicians also helped rocket the singles into the charts. The main point is that it was not Coronavirus-related songs that helped people get through the pandemic but actually nostalgic songs. The Nostalgia Effect on Mental Health Researchers found that negative moods trigger nostalgia and nostalgia induces positive effects. [6] Many YouTube comments such as: “Who is listening to this song in quarantine? ” surfaced on multiple, what are considered now, old songs (nostalgic songs are considered as any song that has been released in the past 1095 days (3 years) [7]); that is because music of the past, nostalgia, induces a certain healing effect. [8] In general, a crisis, either personal, national or global, certainly changes human behaviors and impacts, in particular, consumption patterns (e.g. women tend to consume more beauty products during recessions, known as lipstick effect in consumer psychology [9]). When related to music, however, studies of music consumption patterns on Spotify of 60 countries showed a decline in music consumption during the COVID-19 pandemic. Spikes of plays occurred during Christmas time in Belgium, Sweden and the UK, which coincide with spikes in nostalgia consumption. Holiday effects seem to be more present in the nostalgia effect rather than the pandemic itself. [7] Despite that, some people have resorted to music because of its potential to produce pleasure in the listener. [10] The new normal is still something we try to get used to despite almost being the second wave we go into a lockdown with no plan in the future for the world to change for the better, despite the discovery of a vaccine. Since it is known that the nostalgia effect evokes inspiration and subsequent goal pursuit [11], it could be inferred that some people might have also resorted to music as a form of escapism, setting as their goal to reach a better world, different from the chaotic pandemic. Conclusion: Can Music Cure a Pandemic? The more and more we get used to living through these strange times, we will no longer be seeking means to get us out of the reality we live in, nor will we be seeking nostalgia. Although music cannot cure a pandemic, it can definitely make us stronger going through one and fighting it off since music makes us happy and motivates us. [10] One solution, for now, would be for care centers, hospitals, stores and any places where music could be played publicly to be played, considering the positive effects of playing nostalgic music as a response of the adverse effects of the pandemic [7] , because the answer does not lie in the type of music we listen to, but in the people that are impacted by it, so if the people feel at ease, maybe the world would become free of stress and tension as well! References: [1] (WHO - World Health Organization. Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) technical guidance: Surveillance and case definitions. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2020) [2] A review of initial data on pregnancy during the COVID-19 outbreak: implications for assisted reproductive treatments, Monteleone PA, Nakano M, Lazar V, Gomes AP, de H Martin, Bonetti TC, JBRA Assist Reprod. 2020 May 1; 24(2):219-225. [3] The Future of Music in America: The Challenge of the COVID-19 Pandemic Leon Botstein, 2020 [4] Secrist ME, Dalenberg CJ, Gevirtz R. Contributing factors predicting nightmares in children: trauma, anxiety, dissociation, and emotion regulation. Psychol Trauma. 2019;11(1):114‐121. [5] A. Raglio, C. Imbriani and E. Oddone, Giornale Italiano Di Medicina Del Lavoro Ed Ergonomia, 38 (2017), pp. 257-260 [6] Tim Wildschut, Constantine Sedikides, Jamie Arndt, Clay Routledge; Nostalgia: Content, Triggers, Functions, December 2006, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 91(5):975-93 [7] Did the COVID-19 Pandemic trigger nostalgia? Evidence of Music Consumption on Spotify Timothy Yu-Cheong Yeung1 1Faculty of Law, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium 1 email address: [email protected] 1ORCID: 0000-0002-6314-7582 August 23, 2020 [8] Britta K. Hölzel, James Carmody, Mark Vangel, Christina Congleton, Sita M. Yerramsetti, Tim Gard, Sara W. Lazara; Mindfulness practice leads to increases in regional brain gray matter density, Psychiatry Res. 2011 Jan 30; 191(1): 36–43. [9] Ekaterina Netchaeva, McKenzie Rees, Strategically Stunning: The Professional Motivations Behind the Lipstick Effect, June 2016, Psychological Science 27 [10] Schubert, E. (2009). The fundamental function of music. Music. Sci. 13, 63–81. doi: 10.1177/1029864909013002051 [11] Constantine Sedikides, Tim Wildschut; Past Forward:Nostalgia as aMotivational Force; Trends in Cognitive Sciences, May 2016, Vol. 20, No. 5; link: https://reader.elsevier.com/reader/sd/pii/S1364661316000267?token=5D9A6FC616306151E677CCC52BC3022FB0DCE68D3679F8B1DE02C78E9424B45E7E66E3FC4BFDC0B44440C84482330F78
1 Comment
Adriana
1/12/2020 11:59:22 am
Awsome!
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