Poetry Has a Major Role in Influencing Human Thoughts - Essay Example

Poetry and Society Poetry has a major role in influencing human thoughts and behaviour. Genetically, human has an inherited like towards music and poetry. Almost the entire people would have sung a song or poem at least once in their lifetime in this world. Poems or music has the ability to touch the hearts of intelligent as well as unintelligent people. The themes or the lyrics and the tune of the poem or the music have the ability to create specific moods in the minds of the people. In other words, poems have the ability to communicate with the human soul. It forces a person to do something and avoid something. It has the ability to remind the people about the past, present and future. In short, the ability of poems or poetry in touching the hearts and souls of the people is unquestionable. Since poetry has the ability to touch the souls or emotions of the people, it is often argued that poetry can be used effectively for emotional healing. Emotional problems in this world are growing day by day. Medicines and other methods of therapy have some limitations in addressing the emotional problems such as PTSD, depression, and anxiety of the people. Since poems or music has the ability to speak to the souls, it is believed that poetry or music therapy may help the people with mental problems to get out of the troubles. According to Bouchard, poetry is one of the mediums most conducive to personal, emotive expression. This paper analyses how poetry can be used effectively for emotional healing. The number of people, suffering from emotional problems is growing day by day. The major reason for the growing emotional problems in the society is the life style changes and the loss of morality and ethics in the society. Upcoming generation, especially the children and young adults are facing a lot of emotional problems in recent times. Richard Gold (Founder of Pongo volunteers) and his volunteers conducted a study among children and young adults in juvenile detention centers, homeless shelters, psychiatric hospitals, and other organizations, to know more about the ability of poetry in solving emotional problems. Gold and his team used a carefully constructed model to encourage written expression that will target those areas which are most affecting the youths’ circumstances (early childhood trauma, such as abuse, rape, addiction, death and violence). After this study, Gold has written a post on the Pongo site blog, entitled “Poetry Saved My Life”, which is given below: “Ive seen that lifes worst experiences can exist as strangers in us, separate, like people we dont know and dont want to know. Yet these worst experiences remain our passionate life companions.  Ive seen that our emotions after lifes worst experiences can be sealed in a variety of containers, some buried, or in a black hole, some that explode unexpectedly, some that exist only in the public realm, some that exist only in private, some that exist in one part of ourselves and not in others.  But Ive also seen that through poetry, people can open these containers, and move their contents, these painful emotions, into new frames that are more open and repurposed for a meaningful life” (Bouchard). Worst experiences have the ability to follow a person until his/her death. Such experiences would haunt the person time to time and his/her moods will be fluctuated. Some people have the ability to keep the moods or emotions under control even when the memories of the unpleasant incidents haunt them. On the other hand, some others do not have this ability and they may act violently or indifferently when they remember about the worst incidents happened in their lives. In other words, some people keep their emotions in a closed container, whereas others keep it in an open container. In any case, it is a fact that the memories about the unpleasant incident would cause immense harm to the mental health of the person. It is necessary to help such people to come out from the frightening memories of such incidents. In order to do that, it is necessary to transfer all such memories from the memories to recycle bins or waste baskets. Poetry has the ability to perform this task. It helps emotionally distorted people to open the hidden faculties of mind and remove the wastes or unpleasant incidents from there. Poetry helps emotionally distorted people to realize the meaning of life. Life has two dimensions; pleasant and unpleasant. It is impossible for a person in this world to lead a life which is filled completely with pleasant or unpleasant memories. For example, Steve Jobs was one of the most charismatic CEOs or technocrats in the world until recent times. However, he was suffering from cancer during the later periods of his life. Nobody can say that Steve Jobs had only pleasant memories since he was successful in making Apple Inc. one of the biggest companies in the world. Same way, nobody can say that a beggar has never enjoyed his/her life. Even while begging, he is getting some kind of pleasure when he gets good money. In short, life has a darker and brighter side. Poetry has the ability to remind the people about the realities of life or the darker and brighter sides of life. “Poetry is not a luxury. It is a vital necessity of our existence. It forms the quality of light within which we can predicate our hopes and dreams toward survival and change, first made into language, then into idea, then into more tangible action”(Bouchard). Post-traumatic stress disorder and depression are some of the most common emotional problems in this world at present. “PTSD is an anxiety disorder that follows exposure to life-threatening experiences such as war, sexual assault, homicide, motor vehicle crashes, and natural disasters. The sufferer vacillates between the intense distress associated with unwanted trauma-related memories and psychic numbness”(Sayer 704). For example, the ongoing war on terror would have presented many unpleasant incidents in front of the American soldiers. At present the war on terror in Iraq is over even though it is still going on in Afghanistan. The returning American soldiers from Iraq would have many unpleasant memories. These memories may haunt them during the remaining part of their life. According to a survey conducted among the marine combat units, returning from Iraq war last year, 1 in 8 returning soldiers suffers from PTSD (1 in 8 returning soldiers suffers from PTSD). Majority of these soldiers hide their emotional problems in order to avoid the loss of job threat. Same way, depression is another major psychological problem existing mainly among the elderly people in the society. People who are approaching the end of life situations would have some kind of depression and anxiety. Severe physical diseases can lead towards mental diseases such as depression. According to Chan et al (p.46), “as many as 38% of cancer patients suffer from major depression”. Majority of the old people may face some kind of chronic diseases during the later stages of life. Moreover, they may not get proper care from the family members. All these factors and the worry about the life after death may cultivate depressive elements in their minds. According to Klein, & Wender (p.1), “somewhere between 10 and 30 percent depressives and manic depressives kill themselves”. Poetry therapy seems to be effective in the treatment of PTSD and depression. It has the ability to help the sufferers to realize the different dimensions of life and to adjust with it. Poetry has the ability to settle the emotions of an agitated mind. Holy Bible has cited an example in which David used his musical power to treat the disease of a king. There are plenty of people who hear poetry or music whenever they feel something bad. Frustrations and dejections can be treated effectively with the help of poetry. Poetry has a soothing effect upon the wounds caused by unpleasant incidents in the life. It can create some healthy vibrations in the brain. These healthy vibrations will help the person, to avoid negative feelings and develop positive feeling. In short, poetry has the ability to bring a person from an unpleasant mood to pleasant mood. To conclude, poetry has the ability to affect the society in many ways. It has the potential to calm down the agitated minds of the people. It can remind the people about the pleasant, unpleasant, darker and brighter sides of life. Lack of awareness about the meaning of life and the exaggerated expectation about the life are some of the major reasons for the emotional problems among the people. Such problems can be cured with the help of poetry. Poetry has the ability to communicate with the mind and soul. Since emotional problems are caused by the distorted mind, it is necessary to treat the distorted mind first to help a person to come out of the emotional problems. Poetry is doing exactly that. It can be used effectively in the treatment of emotional problems such as PTSD and depression. “Expressive therapy is a broad category of a variety of therapies. The primary strategy is to help the person get in touch with their emotional state and subjective experiences and express them,” explains Jeffrey L. Binder, PhD, a professor of psychology at Argosy University in Atlanta. “The therapy helps them feel more control of their emotions.” Works Cited Bouchard, Nicole. “How Can Poetry Heal Us?”. Web. 01 May 2014. Chan Eric K. H., Limoges Kendice M, & Fung Tak S. “Functional Social Support and Major Depression In Cancer Patients”. 2010. Psychology Journal, 2010. Vol. 7, No. 2. Print. Klein, Donald F.M.D & Wender, Paul M.D. “Understanding Depression: A Complete Guide to its Diagnosis and Treatment”. 2005. Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA; Revised edition (May 12, 2005). Print Sayer, N. A., Rettmann, N. A., Carlson, K. F., Bernardy, N., Sigford, B. J., Hamblen, J. L. & Friedman, M. J. Veterans with history of mild traumatic brain injury and posttraumatic stress disorder: Challenges from provider perspective. Journal of Rehabilitation Research & Development, 46 (6), 703–716. Print “1 in 8 returning soldiers suffers from PTSD”. 2012. Web. 01 May 2014. Read More