The Power of Music and Mental Health - Is a Cure in our own head?

Music has charms to soothe the savage breast
To soften rocks, or bend a knotted oak.
William Congreve

Ah, music. A magic beyond all we do here!
J. K. Rowling

Music is a discipline, and a mistress of order and good manners, she makes the people milder and gentler, more moral and more reasonable.
Martin Luther

Do you believe in rock ’n roll,
Can music save your mortal soul,
Don McLean

The benefits of music have been known and appreciated by the human race since the first day a bird was heard singing in the trees. We use music to celebrate, dance, rejoice, grieve, protest, pray, meditate and express unrequited love.
Having music to express ourselves and every emotion we could imagine was not enough. We turned to music as therapy, a way to improve ourselves and how we feel and how our brain processes the world around us. Music therapy utilizes music within a therapeutic relationship to address physical, psychological, cognitive, and social needs of individuals. Knowing all this as a parent with two children with a mental illness (bipolar disorder) my main interest in the Piano Wizard was not whether my child could learn to play the piano, but how learning to play the piano would be of benefit to her and help her in her recovery treatment plan in managing her symptoms.
After learning about the symptoms of bipolar disorder, it did not take us long as a family to see that music could have a very definite NEGATIVE effect on their attitudes and behavior. Initially, I had thought that my son and daughter would listen to heavy metal music or very loud, thumping music when their symptoms were elevating. What I learned, as I began to keep a journal of their moods and attitudes was that IF they listened to this music and only had a slightly agitated mood, both of them would experience extremely escalating moods that included agitation, hyperactivity, and often could lead to aggression. Knowing this, music and even video games became much regulated in our home.
However, the other side of this coin was true in just the opposite way. If either child was in a sad or depressed attitude, even slightly blue, listening to slow, sad music would only make the mood worse, often leading into a bout of depression if they were not stopped.
Knowing that music, from just a listening stand point, could be so powerful, I was excited to test the waters to see what LEARNING music could do for a child who has a brain disorder that is based upon rapidly changing moods.
The first day, my 16 year old daughter began using Piano Wizard, it took me over 45 minutes to get her to sit down at the computer and agree to even try it. Our agreement was that she would go through the first steps of the program for 15 minutes and then give me some feedback and she could then be free for other activities of her own choosing. An hour later, I heard her calling me to the computer room and she sounded excited! My daughter never gets excited. I ran to see why she was calling me and she was still sitting at the computer desk. “Listen, she said. I can play the piano.” And then she began to play for me several of the songs on the first program, using BOTH hands. I asked her if she had been playing since I had left her in the room and she said she had. I was amazed! She had been playing, on her own initiative for over an hour!
My 16 year old daughter continued to play every day, on her own initiative for the next three weeks. This is a child who has not shown any initiative on her own for any activity since second grade. During that time, her attitude at home was friendlier, and she was more cooperative with the family. Prior to beginning Piano Wizard, her demeanor had been one that was angry, argumentative, and surly. She was more focused at school and had discontinued sleeping in class all day. She had been failing three classes and within a three week period, had brought her grades up to a C average. And she no longer complained about the music styles I listened to in the car nor pushed me to listen to bass banging music.
Hygiene has always been a problem for her due to her depression. She began dressing in other clothing other than black and wearing make up and hair ribbons.
These changes may not seem like a lot but for a child who has had extreme mood swings and in between those times, suffers from extreme depression, this was like a golden vacation for her and for our family.
Unfortunately, due to a chemical change in her due to a spurt of growth, this made her medication for bipolar disorder less than effective and she required to be hospitalized to help get her stabilized with a new medication regime. However, and she agrees, when she returns home, Piano Wizard, just for fun, will be a part of her recovery treatment plan, because it helps her to think clearly, she enjoys it, feels she is accomplishing something and sees a different person when she looks at herself in the mirror.
I highly recommend Piano Wizard as a tool of accomplishment and as a tool of enjoyment for any child with a brain or mood disorder.