Brief report: Musical improvisation skills can combat labile hypertension

Abstract

• Our data supports the conclusion that musical improvising has the potential to both blunt emotional distress (i.e. through mindfulness) and impact negative thoughts and emotions in ways that can help labile hypertension. This may additionally help patients better anticipate and react to seen and unforeseen stressors in daily life. Notably, patients who participated in this study not only learned a new technique to address labile hypertension, but indicated they are also more likely to practice mindfulness and exercise techniques to benefit their health. All of these pathways can potentially lessen the impact of labile hypertension and give patients an engaging option to treat this condition that is common in so many patients. Patients with labile hypertension experience transient but substantial increases in blood pressure, usually surrounding episodes of emotional distress and anxiety. Difficulties with or inability to express negative emotions may play a role. We hypothesize that therapy involving musical improvisation may blunt emotional response but may also decrease brain activity associated with negative thoughts and emotions. Unlike relaxation techniques that involve music, musical improvisation includes listening and creating music in a heightened state of awareness, listening and spontaneous interaction with music, and involves decreased activity in brain structures associated with negative thoughts and emotions. Improvisation experiences allow improvisers to predict and to anticipate what might occur in the moment, actively engaging in any unexpected “stress” that may come their way. (Palatini et al., 1998 Jul) To create and to improvise, musicians move past the anxiety of failure of being able to interact with unexpected stimuli, and we postulated that with a similar educational approach, patients may be able to better manage their labile hypertension.