r/ethnomusicology • u/concernedaboutmetal • 3d ago
Should one's musical taste be used against you by a psychiatrist?
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u/SmolHumanBean8 3d ago
What do you mean use against?
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u/concernedaboutmetal 3d ago
Used to force a person to take medication that can change how they think
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u/mitshoo 3d ago
Um what? Could you give an example of something you think should be “used against” you in psychiatry? Because that’s not what psychiatry is about. They aren’t there to be a yes man and agree with everything you say, but they aren’t there to thwart you either. The point of psychiatry is to help you be a more functional member of society who experiences less distress. That sometimes means challenging you when you are off base. It does not mean they get their jollies from controlling you or “forcing” you to think a certain way, with or without medication. Have you been watching too many movies set in the 60’s or something? Is this coming from experience with a bad psychiatrist?
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u/concernedaboutmetal 3d ago
Why should I have to align with society?
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u/MrR33Z 3d ago
I mean, you do not have to necessarily, but there are aspects of society that you have to conform to in one way or another based on context and need for your life, health, rent, work, etc.. Being able to play nice when you need too is an important skill, and psychiatrists are just there to help you talk through issues and then present you with options that may help. They are psychologists with prescribing power, but it does not mean you are required to take their prescriptions if you do not want too, they could just be helpful for you.
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u/concernedaboutmetal 3d ago
I just don't understand why stimming and special interests have to go.
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u/SmolHumanBean8 3d ago
They don't. They can't. They're part of you.
Also I'm no psychiatrist but I don't think their pills change the way you think. They just might make it easier for YOU to be MORE LIKE YOU.
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u/concernedaboutmetal 3d ago
I hated the pills they put me on for autism and tourette's, and more recently for panic and paranoia associated with marijuana. I'm off weed too.
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u/SmolHumanBean8 2d ago
It sounds like you should ask about different pills?
I know for depression sometimes you have to shop around for different pills. Maybe it's the same for you?
Sometimes pills can feel weird. But ultimately they need to be an improvement FOR YOU. Taking the pills should lead to a better happier easier to deal with life than if you don't take them.
If the pills are unpleasant, but also it means your panic disappears for example, if it were me I'd say that's a fair trade... but you might say differently.
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u/mitshoo 2d ago
I was actually going to share my experience with autism as a counterpoint, and was surprised to find you, too, are autistic from reading the other comments.
It’s not so much a matter of “aligning” with society, it’s the ability to communicate well and form relationships with others in your culture. I am so, so grateful for all the therapy and intervention I had growing up and wish more people had access to it. I shouldn’t be a rare person with a rare privilege. Because of the therapy, the negative aspects of autism have diminished and the positives have come through more prominently, like special interests or the ability to think differently. But now I can share that with others rather than being alone with it.
I’m not saying you need to take meds. I don’t anymore because they didn’t help me, ultimately. You are free to make the same judgment call. What I am saying is you have an incorrect take on the aims of psychiatry (and the value of rapport with others).
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u/concernedaboutmetal 2d ago
Should people have to inflect their voices, sit still, be less direct, etc.?
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u/mitshoo 2d ago
How direct you are is partly a matter of personal style, and partly a matter of culture. But to the other two, yes. I would say those are inherently valuable goals. I’m not sure I can speak either way about “etc” since I’m not sure how to continue your list as any sort of pattern.
Conformity is more of a skill than a virtue. It’s something I can now turn on or off at will. Usually I choose harmony. Sometimes people need to be told something (or told off) and I will rattle off the encyclopedia entry they need to hear. But the ability to shrug things off and let go of obsessive compulsive tendencies, being at peace with the nonsense of the world, and the ability to communicate my thoughts in a way that other people can understand and relate to, without scaring them off, has made my life much richer and I hope that you, too, can experience it.
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u/Moiyub 3d ago
What music could possibly be used as justification for a presription to psychiatric meds? Literally drop a link cuz I'd probably love it.
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u/concernedaboutmetal 2d ago
IDM music, Complextro, US dubstep, Philip Glass' Einstein on the Beach, obscure YouTube/BandCamp electronic, TouHou music, thrash hits, anything with a "perpetuum mobile"
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u/Moiyub 2d ago
oh. i thought it was gonna be music with depressing lyrics like emo or bright eyes/linkin park/slipknot that kind of vibe, that or some of the insane sounding crazy people music that is out there. this list is so tame I cant imagine what your shrink would diagnose me with for listening to the shit in my rotation.
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u/concernedaboutmetal 2d ago
What's wrong with Linkin Park? It's cool music. And I like Psychosocial
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u/Moiyub 2d ago edited 2d ago
nothing is wrong with LP, just assumed it would be something like that or another band with songs about mental health struggles, suicide, depression, nihilism, pessimism, self-harm etc to be "used against you" or "forced to take medication that changes the way you think". I've listened to the slipknot self titled album on full volume probably 50 times this year its so dark I love it
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u/SmolHumanBean8 2d ago
Einstein On The Beach was used as heavy inspiration for the soundtrack for Project Hail Mary.
I think you're allowed to like it
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u/MrR33Z 3d ago
No, but only because they aren't me, and thus would not come to the right conclusion.
Nah but really most psychiatrists do not have a sophisticated knowledge of all music and music subculture, and probably would stereotype you more than anything with extreme bias. You probably deserve it for your taste in music anyways, but that makes them unqualified for that specific job.
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u/toastyfireplaces 3d ago
In the early 90s, I was studying guitar at Musicians Institute in LA. Our improvisation class was taught by a fusion guy with the obligatory curly mullet—nice enough, but also kind of a doofus. Our assignment was to bring in a recording of a guitar improvisation to listen to and analyze.
I was trying to understand free improvisation at the time, and I brought in this track
He cued up the CD and the sound came over the speakers. I could see his face trying to figure out what to make of it. I thought it was 'fusiony' enough that he would find some way to talk about the logic of the thing.
About halfway through, he turned the volume down, gave kind of a dopey smile to let us know he was kind of kidding, but mostly not, and said, "You call that music?"
My (unknown to me at the time) autistic brain went into analysis-and-resolution mode, which can chew through a moment like this in milliseconds. Without missing a beat, my unconsidered response was, "You call that a haircut?"
By which I meant no ill will whatsoever. I was just pointing out that one's musical choices are not unlike one's tonsorial choices. But, of course, there wasn't time to give the backstory of the decision-making process that caused my response.
There was a long pause. Then suddenly, the tension was broken as everyone in the room, besides the instructor and myself, erupted into laughter. The instructor and I just looked at one another with curiosity, awe, and a hint of a sense that we would be laughing as well if we were just witnesses.
After that, thankfully, there were no hard feelings, at least that I was aware of. There was a quiet peace between us, even when I would ask overly complex (unknown to me at the time) autistic questions.
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u/Old-Mycologist1654 3d ago edited 3d ago
Most likely, your musical taste isn't being used "against you", but as an example of you trying to not fit in, or something like that. Like if you have behavioural or anger problems they could be reflected and possibly amplified by the music you listen to (the music works you up, and you lash out at something that was already making you angry).
It could be the overall noise of it. It could be the lyrics specifically. It could be used as an example of you trying to push people away.
Popular music isn't really just the music itself. It often goes hand in hand with clothes, and a whole persona.
See what happens if you just listen to classical music for a few weeks (Think real big names like Bach, Mozart, and Beethoven, rather than avant gard stuff). You may actually feel better.
Similarly, you can listen to stuff with less tension and see if that helps at all. If you listen to a lot of metal, try listening to something older, with less distortion. Blues music: Muddy Waters. Howlin' Wolf. John Lee Hooker. Lightnin Hopkins. Classic rock: The Beatles, or the Doors Maybe even Bob Marley.
If you listen to a lot of Coltrane, then try less acerbic jazz. Jimmy Giuffre, Paul Desmond. Stan Getz.
ETA I'm not a music therapist. I did major in music history and literature, for which I studied both (Western) classical music and American popular musics.
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u/Jr-Not-Junior 3d ago
Elaborate