Your Listening Habits Could Be Causing Triggers

How can a few minutes of instruments and singing change a person’s thought processes? Dr. Genevieve Dingle, psychologist at Queensland University, has a great answer to that question. She found strong empirical evidence that showed music cuing strong emotional responses and triggering memories. For those in recovery, these memories were often centered around substance use.

Dr. Dingle also discovered that lyrics often act as an outlet to recreating rituals. This happened in two ways. The lyrics themselves triggered the direct memory of the using ritual. Or perhaps more insightfully, certain lyrics were found to be tied to the personal rituals of the person. No matter the outcome, the results were the same. They triggered an emotional response where the person in recovery remembered using.

Breaking rituals is a huge part of recovery and it’s undoubtedly hard to do so. Substance use disorder is more than just using, it’s the lifestyle that’s created with it. This lifestyle then perpetuates the ritual to use. It’s a vicious cycle that is incredibly difficult to break. Therefore, putting yourself into the space to be triggered and tempted is not good.

Mood disorders, like depression or bi-polar, are often associated with poor emotion regulation. For many people listening to music is their method of emotion regulation, whether they realize it or not. The scary thing is, not much is known about how listening to music in this way affects our mental health. However, researchers from various universities in northern Europe banded together to conduct a study on this issue.

Participants in the study were evaluated for markers on things like depression, anxiety, and neuroticism. They also reported the ways they most often listened to music to regulate their emotions. The researchers then recorded the participants’ neural activity while they listened to happy, sad and aggressive music. The study found that anxiety and neuroticism were higher in those that listened to sad or aggressive music to express negative feelings.

The study found something even more crazy and insightful. People who listened to music to express negative feelings had less activity in their prefrontal cortex. In layman’s terms, the prefrontal cortex is the part of the brain responsible for regulating attention, inhibitory control, and habit formation. Inversely, people who listened to music to distract from negative feelings had increased activity in their prefrontal cortex. This shows that the prefrontal cortex is active during emotion regulation. Simply put, listening to music that changes your mood stimulates the part of your brain that helps change habits.

You can’t help to relive and refeel the significant memories and emotions associated with that song. For me, that song (one of many, actually) is I’m No Okay (I Promise) by My Chemical Romance.

When I listen to that song, I’m instantly taken back to a different time. I’m thirteen again, listening to music with the wire of my headphones zipped into my hoodie as I skateboard alone in front of my house. I remember the feelings of being misunderstood, misrepresented, and misaligned to the expectations of my family and culture. And for those three minutes and six seconds, I feel that again.

For those in recovery, a long period of time was spent under the influence, including listening to music. It shouldn’t be much of a shock to find that most of the music you listen to is associated with using. Music can recall memories of partying with friends or memories of drinking alone in your room. Regardless of which direction the memory takes, music can trigger unwanted emotions. If these emotions are left unchecked, they can lead to relapse.

It’s not all bad, though. Music also has some amazingly positive qualities that can help you in your recovery. Listening to music can calm your nerves in stressful situations and provide a healthy place to process negative emotions. Most importantly, whether listening or creating, music is an excellent creative outlet and pathway to recovery.

Music can also be a great source for hope and inspiration. There are countless artists, albums, and songs that speak to the struggle of addiction and give encouragement for recovery. As you start to evaluate the music you listen to, consider replacing songs that trigger you to return to unhealthy coping habits. Replace these songs with music that are created to help you heal.