Music Therapy: Ability to Heal
Music therapy (MT) is often defined as the usage of music to facilitate healing processes of diverse patients. Not only is music present as a source of entertainment, but it is also utilized by people to better cope with their physical and mental stress. More recently, MT has been shown to provide therapeutic needs for patients with psychosis undergoing rehabilitation. This is a significant discovery, for patients with psychosis—symptoms caused by illnesses, stress, or trauma—have difficulty expressing themselves and further lose the ability to connect to the reality around them. While MT was always known to have positive effects on the general public, a recent study provided details and numerical evidence previously absent for MT’s impact on a specific population of patients.
For this study, researchers based their experiment on the Benenzon’s Music Therapy model, which presents a standardized form of MT to 61 patient hospitalized in a women’s inpatient ward at the Department of Mental Health of the University of Naples SUN. Patients were assigned to the MT or control group randomly. Those in the control group engaged in daily rehabilitation practices, such as relaxation training and other individualized care programs. Alongside these standards of care, those in the MT group also participated in biweekly, hour-long MT sessions, during which patients sang songs, improvised to music, and wrote music. A variety of standardized, analytic tools were used throughout the experiment to assess changes in different aspects of patients, such as the severity of their symptoms and patterns of their behavior and thoughts.
For this study, researchers based their experiment on the Benenzon’s Music Therapy model, which presents a standardized form of MT to 61 patient hospitalized in a women’s inpatient ward at the Department of Mental Health of the University of Naples SUN. Patients were assigned to the MT or control group randomly. Those in the control group engaged in daily rehabilitation practices, such as relaxation training and other individualized care programs. Alongside these standards of care, those in the MT group also participated in biweekly, hour-long MT sessions, during which patients sang songs, improvised to music, and wrote music. A variety of standardized, analytic tools were used throughout the experiment to assess changes in different aspects of patients, such as the severity of their symptoms and patterns of their behavior and thoughts.
Image Source: aischmidt
This study’s results presented that MT has the ability to minimize positive symptoms (e.g. hallucinations and delusions) in patients who have functional psychosis, such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. In addition, it could also effectively alleviate negative symptoms (e.g. lack of emotion and inability to function socially) after approximately three to six months of participating in therapy. Taking part in MT for even a short duration proved to be beneficial for patients in improving their physical and mental conditions.
Based on the results of this study, it can be stated that music has the potential to affect the areas of the brain that process emotions, such as the hippocampus and amygdala. More specifically, these regions are part of the limbic system, which is essential for emotion processing, and they were shown to be activated when music was playing. Nowadays, many hospitals offer art and music programs to help patients cope with pain and also trigger better emotional responses as mentioned in this study. Patients should reach out to their nurses or doctors for MT options. Even if a patient does not know how to play an instrument, MT could be accomplished simply by listening to music, singing along, or even learning music.
Based on the results of this study, it can be stated that music has the potential to affect the areas of the brain that process emotions, such as the hippocampus and amygdala. More specifically, these regions are part of the limbic system, which is essential for emotion processing, and they were shown to be activated when music was playing. Nowadays, many hospitals offer art and music programs to help patients cope with pain and also trigger better emotional responses as mentioned in this study. Patients should reach out to their nurses or doctors for MT options. Even if a patient does not know how to play an instrument, MT could be accomplished simply by listening to music, singing along, or even learning music.
Featured Image Source: stevepb
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