Topic Sentence :_______________________

Baker, Timothy D., et al. “The Ghost of ‘Emo:’ Searching for Mental Health Themes in a Popular Music Format.” Journal of
School Counseling, Journal of School Counseling. Montana State University, College of Education, Health and Human
Development, P.O. Box 172940, Bozeman, MT 59717. Tel: 406-994-4133; Fax: 406-994-1854; e-mail:
ehhddean@montana.edu; Web site: http://jsc.montana.edu, 30 Nov. 2012, eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1012310.

Kennedy, Susan Walker. “An Exploration of Differences in Response to Music Related to Levels of Psychological Health in
Adolescents.” TSpace, 1 June 2010, tspace.library.utoronto.ca/handle/1807/24907.

Works Cited

Muehsam, John P. “Some Words when Spoken Can’t Be Taken Back”: Self and Mental Health in Grunge Music, Widener
 University, United States -- Pennsylvania, 2020. ProQuest, https://www.proquest.com/dissertations-theses/some-words-when-
spoken-can-t-be-taken-back-self/docview/2416860472/se-2.

Scholarly Secondary Source

Lyrical composition in relation to mental health
“Eight songs had themes of serious mental health concerns and/or duty-to-warn or mandated
reporting events, including suicide ideation, suicide attempts and completed suicides; acute grief and
bereavement; childhood sexual and physical abuse; post-traumatic stress; and depression or
dissociative disorders.” p. 17

“Miranda and Claes (2007) noted that music listening and depressive symptoms increase during
adolescence, and they wondered about the lack of research exploring whether these two aspects of
adolescent life were somehow linked.” p. 79
“Storr (1992) suggested that a listener’s response to a particular piece of music often has more to do
with the state of mind of the listener than the qualities of the music” p. 79
“Styron (1990) in his memoir about his struggles with depression described how, when he was
feeling suicidal, music suddenly re-awakened his appreciation of his home and family. He outlined
vividly how “music pierced my heart like a dagger” while listening to Brahm’s Alto Rhapsody” p. 80

“A few authors discuss the fact that music lyrics are often (if not typically) ambiguous. The
interpretation of lyrics, therefore, is a subjective process allowing for widely divergent but equally
legitimate meanings.” p. 125
“The first segment above speaks of how their thoughts create an aimless and lack of direction to his
life. In the second segment (from a song telling titled “Hate to Feel”) he criticizes those who seem too
unaware of their own inner crises to be non-judgmental.” p. 174
“First and most fundamentally, pearl jam asks “is something wrong?” this can be “is something
wrong” with you or, more generally, is something wrong with the universe, and everything?” p. 180

Social context of mental health

“The early 1980s saw much concern over the influence of rock musicians on youth generally, and
public debate reached a fever pitch after 1984, when a teen completed suicide while listening to
Ozzy Osborne’s song “Suicide Solution” (even though the song’s lyrics were about addiction,
explicitly stating that alcoholism is a form of suicide).” p. 7
“Rutledge, Rimer, and Scott (2008) emphasized the role of school counselors, nurses, and teachers
who work with parents and students to address the underlying mental health issues of teens,
because “[Goth culture] tends to draw teens who are depressed, participate in self-harm activities,
have family or social problems, and experience feelings of hopelessness” p. 8

“The description of troubled or at risk covers a range of behaviours and beliefs including delinquency,
recklessness, adolescent turmoil, substance abuse, witchcraft beliefs, psychiatric illness, depression,
and suicide ideation” p. 53-54
“Christenson and Roberts (1998) have suggested that there are vulnerable adolescents who may be
more susceptible to the messages in problem music styles as it resonates with their internal distress;
however they emphasize that the music does not cause the distress” p. 54

“According to the substance abuse and mental health services administration, in 2018, 47.6 million
adults 18 or older have some kind of mental illness” p. 18
“Suicide deaths in teh united states have increased from 29,199 in 1999 to 47,193 in 2017” p. 19
Counter Point