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Mental health and Indian classical music

Dr. Arun Kumar. Suri

Most of us have heard of the statement “health is wealth”. Even a millionaire cannot
be happy if he does not enjoy good health. One may live in a centrally air conditioned house
and buy a luxurious cot but if he is sick he will not be able to sleep well.

The advances in the medical field have enabled doctors to provide very good medical
care to people. Critically ill patients are being saved with the help of life saving equipments
and therapeutic procedures. Some diseases have been eradicated. Life expectancy has gone
up in most places.

But if we look at any newspaper today or switch on any news channel what do we
see or hear? Murder, rape, suicide, increasing divorce rates, problems due to alcoholism,
increasing drug addiction, increasing traffic accidents, terrorist activities, theft, eve teasing
and crimes committed by people with perverted minds. There has been a steady increase in
prevalence of psychological disturbance like anxiety, depression and insomnia Crime rate is
going up in many places.

What is the reason for this situation? The answer is deteriorating mental health. It is
obvious that neither the current educational system nor health care system has helped
people to maintain sound psychological health. Mental health is as important as or perhaps
more important than physical health.

A person with a strong mind can overcome his physical disability and achieve what
many people without any physical handicap cannot. A person with a weak mind may resort
to begging even if he has no physical disability. Diseases of the mind can affect the body in
the long run resulting in psycho-somatic disorders. A criminal is a person with a sick mind.
There is a saying in Sanskrit which says the mind is the cause for sorrow or happiness.

Hence every person should strive to maintain sound mental health and parents
should make every effort to keep their children in a state of sound mind and prevent
psychological problems. The saying prevention is better than cure is particularly relevant as
far as mental health is concerned.

Let us try to understand why the mind becomes sick, how we can maintain mental
health and how Indian classical music can help us. The effort to maintain mental health
should begin very early, before the birth of a baby when the baby is still inside the mother’s
womb.

Recent advances in medical field have prompted scientists to look at the developing
fetus in order to detect abnormalities early and intervene even when the baby is inside the
uterus. Operations are being performed on the fetus in order to prevent congenital
anomalies from causing irreparable damage.
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Doctors are beginning to realize that the mental status of the pregnant woman can
affect the developing baby through changes in the hormonal levels. Follow up of babies born
to mothers suffering from anxiety or depression during pregnancy has revealed subtle
abnormalities in development of such babies. Drugs given to mothers with anxiety or
depression can also affect the developing babies. Severe psychological disturbance may lead
to abortion or low birth weight.

Hypertension is a common problem in pregnancy. It can be secondary to

psychological problems or lead to anxiety. It has been shown that classical music can
greatly help in lowering blood pressure, alleviating anxiety and fighting depression. Hence
listening to classical music daily during pregnancy can certainly help in preventing some
problems and ensuring normal pregnancy. This is as important as eating proper food and
going for regular check up. A pregnant woman who is peaceful and joyous has greater
chance of giving birth to a healthy baby.

Research has shown that listening to music leads to elevation in the levels of some
neuro-transmitters like serotonin and dopamine. Lack of serotonin can cause depression.
Hence music has the ability to overcome depression.

Sound therapy with the help of certain sounds, has been reported as an effective
way to instill calmness in the developing fetus. Classical music has been reported to have
had positive effects on the growth of the fetus as well. Rock music has been shown to cause
discomfort to the fetus.

Music has a positive effect on the intelligence, creativity, mathematical ability and
reasoning in children of all ages. Hence it may have some effect on unborn babies also.

Listening to soothing music during delivery may bring down anxiety and pain of labor
and reduce the need for medicines. Clinical researchers at the U.C.L.A. School of Nursing in
Los Angeles, and at Georgia Baptist Medical Center in Atlanta, found that premature babies
gained weight faster when they listened to soothing music.

Many mothers today complain that they are not getting enough breast milk. Many
babies are given some artificial milk which is nowhere near breast milk as far as quality is
concerned. This also puts the babies at risk for developing infections. Breast milk contains
several substances like docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), arachidonic acid (both are fatty acids),
cholesterol and taurine-an amino acid which are necessary for the proper development of
the brain. The production of breast milk is a natural process but the mental status of the
mother can affect the process. Anxiety or depression may reduce the production of breast
milk.

Studies have shown that cows made to listen to classical music yield more milk
compared to those cows not exposed to music. Hence listening to classical music may
increase breast milk production in lactating mothers and ensure that babies get enough best
milk and suffer from fewer infections and also have higher IQs.

We often come across a mother who complains that her baby is crying continuously.
Such babies usually do not have any physical illness and thorough physical examination
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does not reveal any abnormality. Many people forget that even a small baby has mind and
that the delicate mind can be affected by the negative vibrations in the house. We may be
able to detect negative vibrations in the house by dowsing with a pendulum. Classical music
can neutralize the negative vibrations and fill the house with positive vibrations which can
soothe the minds of people in the house. Ragas like Neelambari and Anandabhairavi are
known to induce sleep.

Many studies conducted by behavioral scientists have shown that children who learn
music are less likely to use tobacco or alcohol and develop greater interpersonal skills.

The origin of Indian classical music can be traced to the Vedas. Later Bharatamuni
wrote a treatise called Natya Shastra containing about 6000 (six thousand) verses. The
exact period of this work is not known but believed to be between 200 B.C and 200 A.D. It
also deals with the bhavas (emotions) that may be evoked by music. This treatise is based
on the much older Gandharva Veda (appendix to Sama Veda) which contained 36000
verses.

Music therapy in modern times was recognized as an important aspect of medical

treatment during the Second World War when doctors and nurses in US Veteran
Administration hospitals noticed the beneficial effects of music on the physical and mental
states of hospitalized soldiers.

The Michigan State University in the USA was the first to introduce and establish the
first Music Therapy degree program in the world. In 1950, the National Association for Music
Therapy (NAMT) was formed by professional Music Therapists in the USA and another such
professional organization, the American Association for Music Therapy, came into being in
the nineteen seventies. These two organizations merged in 1998 to form the American
Music Therapy Association (AMTA). The purpose of the American Music Therapy Association
is to ensure the progressive development and the therapeutic use of music in rehabilitation
and special education.

Today the number the number of people taking drugs for anxiety, depression and
insomnia is steadily increasing. We are living in the era of instant coffee and ready to eat
food items. People try to find quick solutions to every problem. Hence doctors are
prescribing these drugs to give immediate relief to patients. While these drugs do help in
the short run they do not provide lasting solution to the problem.

Leading psychiatrists all over the world have begun to realize that long term use of
these drugs can do more harm than good. One leading psychiatrist, Dr. Breggin has written
a book called Medication Madness in which he has pointed out the undesirability of using
these drugs for long period. Hence they are exploring other options for solving these
problems. Music therapy is being increasingly used for the management of anxiety,
depression and insomnia. It is also being tried in the management of migraine and for
disorders like Autism and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) for which there is
no satisfactory treatment in modern medicine.

Some authorities have begun to believe that the food we eat can influence our mind.
Dr. Gabriel Cousens in his book entitled Spiritual Nutrition points out that how the food is
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cooked may also affect the minds of those who consume that food. He says that playing
devotional songs or chanting devotional songs may alter the quality of food in such a way
that it has beneficial effect on those eating such food. Hence,, playing classical music while
cooking food may help in improving the behavior of children.

As increasing crime rate is a worldwide problem authorities in some countries have

tried playing classical soothing music in public places. The authorities were pleasantly
surprised to note a significant drop in the crime rate. This has been tried in New Zealand,
Australia, United Kingdom and USA. It may be worth trying this in other places also.

At Baltimore's St. Agnes Hospital, classical music was provided in the critical-care
units. According to Dr. Raymond Bahr, head of the coronary-care unit half an hour of music
produced the same effect as ten milligrams of Valium (a drug used to alleviate anxiety and
induce sleep). Other studies suggest music may help increase production of endorphins
(natural pain relievers) and Salivary immunoglobulin A which reduces the danger of
infections.

Various techniques like EEG, evoked potential and functional MRI have been used to
study the effect of music on brain function. Most of the studies showed that the brain ability
is improved by classical music and decreased by rock music. When the brain processes
music, the frontal EEG activity is increased.

As per clinical neuroscience, listening to music involves many brain activities.

Research shows that music has significant effect on our body and mind. Music has a positive
effect on the hormone system and allows the brain to concentrate more easily and
assimilate more information in less time, thereby improving learning, speeding up
information intake and thus augmenting cognitive skills.

Classical music has been found to control epilepsy. The governor of Poland Grand
Duke Constantine had recurring seizures which could seemingly be controlled only by great
pianist and composer Frederic Chopin's music. Rock music has been shown to induce
epilepsy in some people.

Proper singing regulates breath, which in turn controls blood pressure, hypertension
and unproductive emotive states of the mind such as fear, insecurity and help alleviate
breath related ailments such as asthma.

Music therapy is being tried for many disorders. For those who suffer from
hypertension, ragas such as Ahirbhairav and Todi are prescribed. To control anger and bring
down violence Carnatic ragas like Punnagavarali and Sahana have been found to be useful.
Many parents complain about bad behavior of children like sudden outburst of anger,
rudeness or stubbornness. It is worth trying music therapy for such children.

In order to rule out subjective reactions to music and find out whether music can
actually affect cells experiments have been carried out on plants. Sir Jagdish Chandra Bose
performed some experiments to show how music affects plant growth.

Dorothy Retallack of Denver, Colorado, demonstrated the effects of different kinds of

music on a variety of household plants. The experiments were conducted under strict
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scientific conditions, and the plants were kept within large closed cabinets in which light,
temperature and air were automatically regulated. Some plants were exposed to rock music
and others to semi classical soothing music.

The plants listening to rock music refused to bloom. Those on semi classical music
developed six beautiful blooms. By the end of the second week, the plants exposed to rock
music were leaning away from the radio and showing very erratic growth. The plants
hearing semi classical were all leaning towards the sound. Within a month all plants exposed
to rock music DIED. If music can be shown to affect plants, then such effects have to be
due to the objective influence of the tones directly upon the structure and function of cells.

Dr. Masaru Emoto a Japanese scientist performed a series of experiments to find out
the physical effect of words, prayers and music on the crystalline structure of water. He
took photographs after water exposed to different kinds of vibrations was frozen to study
the crystalline structure. He showed that water exposed to good music formed beautiful
crystals while water exposed to bad vibrations formed asymmetrical and disfigured crystals.
As the human body is made up of 60% water we can imagine the effect good music can
have on our body and mind.

It is observed that good music relaxes and opens blood vessels, while listening to
bad music closes the blood vessels, leading to stress and mental fatigue. Musicologist Julius
Portnoy found that music can change metabolism, affect muscular energy, raise or lower
blood pressure, and influence digestion.

There are two aspects of Indian Classical Music. One is listening to the ragas and
compositions and enjoying the nuances of music. The other aspect involves understanding
the meaning of the compositions which can have tremendous influence on our attitude to
life and our priorities. Spirituality is an inseparable component of Indian Classical Music. The
trinity of carnatic music (Tyagaraja, Muthuswami Dikshitar and Shyama Shastri) and other
saints sang out of devotion to God. It came from the depth of their hearts. They did not
compose those songs for making money.

Tyagaraja sings in one of the compositions that man cannot experience happiness by
money but by going closer to god. In another composition he says that mere knowledge of
music without devotion is useless. Through those compositions they exhorted people to
conquer the six inner enemies of uncontrolled lust, anger, greed, attachment to worldly
objects, egoism and jealousy.

They educated people about the four goals of human life-righteous conduct
(Dharma), earning money (Artha), enjoying sensual pleasures (Kama) and ultimately
realizing our real nature which is spiritual (Moksha). They tried to sow seeds of devotion to
god in the hearts of people. Today most people have thrown Dharma into dust bin and have
completely ignored spiritual development. They have reduced human life to Artha and
Kama. That is why the world is in utter chaos today.

Psychological problems arise as a result of ignorance of our real nature. Man is

spiritual in nature and the ultimate aim of human life is to realize this truth. The nature of
soul is bliss. Adi Shankaracharya after experiencing the highest state of yoga says in one of
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his compositions (Atma-Shatakam also called Nirvana Shatakam) that he is bliss itself.
When man out of ignorance identifies himself with the body-mind complex he is not able to
experience happiness. He tries to find it by running after worldly objects. But the
momentary pleasure he gets out of the senses cannot satisfy him. This leads to many
psychological problems. That is why Ramana Maharshi always urged all those who went to
him to find the answer to the question “who am I “.

Tyagaraja mentions in one of his compositions that this world is an illusion. This is
the quintessence of Vedanta Philosophy. Modern scientists working in the field of quantum
physics have realized that more than ninety nine percent of an atom is empty space. Hence
most of what we see as solid matter is empty space. Science has also discovered that
matter and energy are interconvertible.

Scientists earlier thought that matter produces consciousness but have recently
changed their stand and say consciousness produces matter. The entire universe is nothing
but different forms of one and only one entity. The materialistic theory of universe has been
replaced by the biocentric theory of Dr. Robert Lanza.

The great mystic Sadasiva Brahmendra says in one of his compositions that all this is
Brahman (the Sanskrit word for God). Thus we can see that modern scientists are only
validating what the ancient Rishis and Saints of India have been preaching for centuries.
There is a book called Physics proves God.

That is why god realized people of all nations urged people to find happiness within.
The Bhagavadgita says the wise man controls his mind and delving deep into oneself, finds
the inexhaustible source of joy. Such a person does not crave for any worldly object. The
Bible says seek ye the kingdom of heaven within and the righteousness of god and all other
things shall be added unto you.

Modern man is suffering from so many problems because he has ignored the spiritual
dimension of life. He is always busy earning money and satisfying his senses. Modern
medicine has till now not officially accepted the existence of soul. But prominent
psychiatrists and well known doctors in many specialties have begun to accept the existence
of soul.

As a result of extensive research for more than one hundred years we now have
overwhelming evidence for the existence of soul and reincarnation. Hence the time has
come for combining science and spirituality. Science and technology may make our lives
more comfortable but only through spiritual development can man experience lasting peace
and happiness.

While trying to manage psychiatric problems like depression, anxiety and phobias
many psychiatrists have come to the conclusion that these problems cannot be satisfactorily
managed without taking into consideration the spiritual dimension of man. Hence many are
recommending music and meditation to such patients with encouraging results. The
calmness induced by music can help a person to meditate properly. Music and meditation
can go a very long way in preventing and managing psychological problems.
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Like body the mind also needs regular cleaning. Mind pollution is more dangerous
than air pollution, water pollution or food adulteration. Our classical music can act as soap,
deodorant and perfume for the mind. Listening to classical music regularly and
contemplating on the meaning of the songs can bring about a transformation in our
personality. No amount of external coercion can bring about lasting change in anyone. Laws
alone cannot change man. The tendency to commit crimes should be rooted out from the
minds of people. Only then can we have a healthy society.

Many parents overreact to physical problems like cold or fever and immediately rush
to a specialist. They should be equally concerned about the mental health of their children.
No parent should assume that his/her child will not become a criminal. There is a devil in
every one of us. Only a person who can conquer that devil can enjoy lasting peace and
happiness.

Our classical music constantly reminds us about the ultimate purpose of life. It is the
yoga of devotion, path leading to liberation and a divine art which aims to lift us from the
level of humanity to divinity. Let us sincerely hope that more and more people will take
interest in and learn classical music.