Introducing: Psychology Through Music

Personality 

I have been thinking for a long time about the intersection of music and psychology.  Music has a magical ability to illuminate mood states that words cannot describe accurately.  During quarantine, music was a comfort as it had an ability to transport me beyond the walls of my home and brought up happy memories.  Lyrics are the poems that grace this magic.  

I thought we could begin our playlist series by discussing personality.  Personality is the most stable part of our psychology.  Personality Disorders are the words we ascribe to extreme and dysfunctional ways of being in the world.  We currently have three groupings of these disorders: A, B, and C.  I am starting with B, which may feel out of order, because I have this cluster very much on my mind as it relates to another project I am working on.  The disorders that lay within this cluster are Narcissistic Personality Disorder, Histrionic Personality Disorder, Antisocial Personality Disorder, and Borderline Personality Disorder.  Each may get its own playlist dedicated to it eventually in the future.  While these disorders can be diagnosed and treated in a clinical setting, "Cluster B," in general, is a series of traits that might never rise to the threshold of diagnosis depending on the individual.  We may recognize these tendencies in ourselves.  It often lies within the behaviors we consider to be in our individual array of "unhealthy coping."  In general, Cluster B personality structures may view themselves in opposition to others in times of stress, they are sensation seeking, tend to invest in image over authenticity as a means to avoid vulnerability, and may feel entitled to the things they find comforting when they want to be cheered up.  

As I mentioned, music has this immense ability to impact our mentality.  Listen with care as this playlist takes us to some dark places.  Take breaks, notice what comes up for you, talk about it with a caring person, or quit all together if it is too much.