Musical imagery just happens...
Musical imagery is the brain hearing music when there is no music actually playing.
In Musicophilia Dr. Sacks shows that "Musical imagery is not voluntarily commanded or summoned but comes to us apparently spontaneously." Could the spontaneous nature of this imagery - at times be sparked by associative thought? I am not sure. But Dr. Sacks pays attention to the associative thought process - as he points out how one of his correspondents says that "Every memory of my childhood has a soundtrack to it."
Musical imagery comes from repeated exposure to a particular piece or type of music. Dr. Sacks points out how a type of musical imagery that entered his own mind, while lacking an associative emotional attachment (like from childhood memory), was pleasurable enough for him to attend to. He relates his musical imagery to the fact that..."I have bombarded my ears and brain with them, and the musical "circuits" or networks in my brain have been supersaturated, overcharged with them. In such a supersaturated state, the brain seems ready to replay the music with no apparent external stimulus." (Dr. Sacks)
The type of musical imagery that Dr. Sacks deals with is described as rarely intrusive or uncontrollable. However, the doctor has treated those who have more voracious experiences within the realm of musical imagery - or that which is just flat out auditory hallucination.
When considering Dr. Sacks described bombardment and resulting musical imagery I am given cause to pause with regard to all the auditory input that children are bombarded with in our current society.
For my own autistic daughter who experienced a worsening into schizophrenic like psychosis at about ten years of age, it became imperative to stop her constant engagement in viewing familiar animated movies, games and TV programs. For the most part they all have similar music - but with the added dash of intrigue that ended up being very bad for her.
Right before her worsening she needed the volume turned up on anything that she listened to. It was as if she was trying to drown out other things in the environment. Soon it was apparent that she was having internal conflict and I realized she was trying to drown out what was going on in her head. She progressed to the point of having inexplicable screaming episodes as she tried to occupy herself with watching her movies or engaging in a video game.
She really got to the point where no known external stimulus need be present in order that she go berserk. As the outburst expanded in duration, intensity and number - the internal conflict was coupled with catatonia like presentation. By this particular point I and my family had identified auditory and visual hallucinations were a part of the overall process for her.
Perhaps the succession that led to horrific hallucinatory process started with that of voracious musical imagery that was intertwined with visual media imagery. As far as the motor movements that also took her over, what can one expect when so much is going so wrong neurologically.
Her worsening did not relent for several years. However, my daughter was eventually able to discern that she needed to be void of too much stimulus, and while a hospital inpatient she would many times voluntarily take herself to the seclusion room that was void of stimulation during her rougher times.
Her determination to shine in spite of the tremendous neurological challenges only emboldened the determination to hang on with her. Most doctors felt we should give up. I and my family did not know how to give up because as unbearable as life was with her - it would be worse without her. We were witness to a cherished one who was suffering in a neurological hell, all the while trying to make her own way out.
Throughout those years there were tries at helping her that were inconsequential. These were the kinds of help that might more aptly apply for those who were not so obviously suffering from a severe neurological - and not strictly volitional - condition.
During an occupational therapy evaluation: My daughter hated classical music playing in the background. She hates sound with too much treble quality. The OT felt it important to find music that she could enjoy, however all that she experienced turned into conflict so that not even music soothed her. The OT noted that we already utilized strategies at home such as swimming and swinging, exclusively doing so because my daughter usually responded to favorably to them. The report gave a very long and excellent list of ideas for settling at night, but the active hallucinations and manias cared little for such a list.
I previously had exposure to, and understood the OT's suggestions since my daughter lived her entire life in the world of autism. Everyone tried so hard to help but the fact for the current time was that we were not dealing with anything near normal, and my daughter was not responding to most of these types of interventions normally. Her world represented an upside down one. Things considered soothing by many became intolerable.
During a relaxation session: An attempt was made to have my daughter utilize certain relaxation techniques. Mostly breathing exercises and music. The deliberate breathing required repetition, or ritual. How could I explain to the therapist that this meditative breathing might be bad? Ritual proved harmful to my daughter and seemed to through her into absence spells. The repetitive relaxation breathing might contribute to troubling absence spells. Past absence spells disturbed my daughter enough to result in violence and screaming.
My daughter tried relaxation with the therapist, but as she engaged in the deliberate breathing she looked disturbed - the way she usually looked when dealing with internal conflict. Her thought processes were fried and repetition of any sort was an enemy. Meditation upon meaningless music, breathing, or idle thinking was in vain. It really pointed to her susceptibility toward spells, as compared to some individual's susceptibility to hypnotizing. Perhaps my daughter's involvement in any sort of repetition put her in a trance state, without benefit of suggestion from the hypnotist. All she had was her inner conflict from which to draw.
Indeed, for my daughter types of music represent an evolving trigger process for imagery, hallucination and ultimately conflict.
As I read Dr. Sacks' work and consider my daughter's presentation over her entire life I can easily conclude that caution is advised for our current culture. The bombardment of media - the constant viewing of cartoons, animated movies and other media, most of which have a lot of music intertwined is something better avoided in large dose; especially by those identified as being part of the spectrum of autism. These media, in too large a dose, may represent for the autistic child the same scenario as the bombardment that Dr. Sacks talked about with regard to his own musical imagery.
While Dr. Sacks is better able to make sense of his own imagery's intrusion. An autistic child will have a harder fought life long journey of discernment with regard to what they take in, and how their psyche responds to it all.
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About our journey with autism... At the very beginning I figured we would get our daughter normalized in no time and pretty soon she would be asking for the car keys. It didn't quite work out that way and as my entire family and I continued to work through the ebb and flow of her unique walk, we fell madly in love with her in all her glory. This articles are just an outreach. For a real life look at one case of severe autism, just Google "Hello, Dr. Wells". It is a sixteen year account of autism that turned to schizophrenic like psychosis.
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