How do you feel when you listen to your favourite tracks?
Music therapy is a well-established, research-based profession that supports the health and well being of children and adults of all ages. There is now a wealth of research that shows music and sound can reduce anxiety, trauma, stress, depression and manage pain.
Numerous studies have reported promising outcomes with cardiac management, PTSD, Alzheimers, quality of life for cancer patients and neurological impairment such as stroke recovery. Doctors are even prescribing music for some of the disorders.
I use to work with patients with HIV-related cognitive deficits – similar to dementia – at a London hospital. Following my research into the benefits of music with dementia, I decided to start a weekly singing group.
After a few months, many of the patients displayed profound changes in mood, session engagement, communicative attempts such as eye contact, and speech. They also showed less anxiety and agitation, really appearing to love the singing and the music. Two patients produced sounds for the first time in years – a rewarding experience for all involved.
The Lancet recently reported results from a review of 7000 patients who listened to pre-recorded music before, during, and after surgery. They found the experience of listening to music could lower activity in the nervous system, reducing pulse rate, breathing rate and blood pressure. They also found pain, anxiety and the need for pain medication were reduced.
Patients who listened to music in the operating theatre, whilst under general anesthetic also benefited. This prompted the researchers to call for all hospitals to offer personalised music selections to people undergoing surgery.
Science Daily reported on a systematic review, published by the Cochrane Library, which looked at 52 trials with 3731 participants. They found significant evidence that music interventions help alleviate symptoms of anxiety, pain and fatigue in cancer patients whilst improving quality of life.
Oxford University in England reported research on lowering blood pressure. They found slow classical music, which followed the 10-second rhythm had the greatest impact. An earlier study suggested listening to our favourite music can strengthen the heart and improve recovery in patients with heart disease.
Music therapy was noted to improve behaviour in patients with moderate to severe Alzheimer’s disease. The study reported reduced agitation, irritability, sleep problems and eating difficulties. For the research see Alzheimers, which also reports on Addiction and Depression.
I am passionate about the transformative power of sound healing and use Tibetan bowls and various chime bars in my guided meditation. More on sound healing in my next post…
