music therapy: from stress reduction to memory enhancement: music therapy sets the ideal tone for well-being

Using the power of music to improve mentally and physically, and live well can bring rich dividends, writes Rashmi Ramesh

A nine-year-old who never spoke a word all his life spoke for the first time during a music session. His first word was "open". Diagnosed with autism, the boy was previously nonverbal. This development was a pleasant surprise for Purvaa Sampath, currently the only music therapist accredited by the CBMT (Music Therapy Certification Council) and music therapist neurologist who was trainee at the time.

"With this boy, my supervisor and I had created a song in which he would drum when we asked him. I led the session and started the song. When I talked about it, it was: "Who knocks on the door?" And instead of drumming, he looked me straight in the eyes and pronounced the word "open" . It was the first time he had said a word and it was a highlight for me, my supervisor, his teacher and his family. And that word came after months of music therapy, "said Sampath.

With music therapy, consistency, patience and practice are essential, she says.

Akanksha Pandey, clinical psychologist consultant at Fortis Hospital in Bengaluru, said that music is an expressive therapeutic tool that helps people improve their physical and mental health. It relaxes the mind and has a functional effect on the brain.

"The therapeutic role of music has been recognized since antiquity, through such texts as Raga Chikitsa, and also builds on current research, which discusses the physiological benefits of music on the immune system, the benefits of music for relaxation and stress management, the application of music to improve memory and attention, as well as long-term changes induced by music in the behavior of the elderly depressed, "said Pandey.

"Music therapy, as a model, was initially designed for psychiatric patients to help channel their pent-up and conflicting emotions. But with some modifications, it is now also used to treat anxiety, sleep disorders and improve the ability of everyone to identify and communicate their needs, thoughts and feelings in a productive way, "she said. .

Dr. Sahil Kohli, a consultant (neurology) at Gurugram-based Narayana Super Specialty Hospital, explained that music has a calming influence on the body and mind because it produces endorphins – natural painkillers usually produced in the body. a happy state of mind – thereby reducing stress. and anxiety, and promoting relaxation by reducing muscle tension. "Young people with anxiety problems can better focus, avoid distractions and negative thoughts, and increase their productivity," Kohli said.

Music therapy is a meeting point between psychology, neuroscience and music. It helps to see how music affects the brain and how various musical tools such as rhythm, pitch, melody and timbre can be used to meet clients' challenges, said Sampath.

The music is known to speed up recovery too. "Music therapy promotes the awareness of patients in coma, especially after a head injury or during metabolic coma.Learning their favorite music helps to recover more quickly and effectively from memory lapses, even in patients with early memory loss, "said Kohli.

Education VS Therapy

"The ultimate goal of music therapy is a non-musical goal, while in music education, the end goal is a musical goal," Sampath said. "For example, if I work on the piano with a client who came to my home for music therapy with the fine motor skill challenge, my ultimate goal for using the piano in the session is that the client works their fine motor skills." use their finger. However, if I taught anyone to play the piano, the ultimate goal would be that they learn and reproduce everything we did on the piano; so the ultimate goal here is a musical skill. "

Who is it for?

Pandey has suggested music therapy to many of her clients, especially those with anxiety disorders. "Many of them said that it helped them to calm down. I often use music while training in relaxation or visual imagery for anxiety, stress, and anger issues, "Pandey said.

There is no age limit for benefits. "The youngest client I worked with was two and the oldest, 97 years old. I have worked with children and adults with autism, traumatic brain injury, stroke, cerebral palsy, learning difficulties, intellectual and cognitive problems, Down syndrome, Alzheimer's. , dementia, Parkinson's disease and a whole range of mental health disorders, such as schizophrenia, depression, personality disorders and anxiety disorders, "said Sampath.

What's special about it?

"Music is one of the few activities that engage both the right and left hemispheres of your brain. So, when you actively participate in music by singing or playing an instrument, several areas of your brain work. Our brain has the ability to create new neural pathways to relearn skills such as speech, cognitive abilities, and physical abilities. So music is an integral part of the process of getting the brain to create those connections and strengthen them, "Sampath said. Although music therapy has many benefits, it should be emphasized that it is most effective when used in combination with psychotherapy and / or medical treatment, Kohli added.

Old panacea

Health profession established today, music therapy is a concept that was popularized in southern India by the carnatic musician Balamuralikrishna M in the 1980s. But this form of therapy has roots that go back in the 4th century BC, and it's just in India

• Aristotle claims that in some people, the effect of religious melodies that make the soul vibrate is similar to that of people who have undergone medical treatment and mental catharsis.

• Thirteenth-century Arabic hospitals had music rooms to help healing

• The Hippocratic tradition emphasized the application of natural methods of healing in medical practice, and Hippocrates, the father of modern medicine, would have played music to treat patients with health problems mental.

• The ancient Hindus believed that music therapy could deal with the suffering caused by the uncontrolled thinking of man.

• Swami Haridas, a clbadical musician who lived in the 16th century, was one of many who used music to treat diseases

• A 17th century work by Sangita Sudha, Nayaka king Raghunatha Nayak, and his minister, Govinda Dikshitar, reports on the effects of music on emotions.

• The ancient works collected by King Sahaji (1684-1711), preserved in the Thanjavur Saraswathi Mahal Library in the form of manuscripts on palm leaves, are used to document the restorative use of music to cure psychological ills.

• Raga Chikitsa was the original Sanskrit treatise that dealt with curative ragas with mood-enhancing characteristics.

• Regular exposure to a specific raga in particular conditions is known to have special effects. While the Nilambari raga can induce sleep, Bilahari, a raga producing joy, helps to alleviate the melancholy mood and Sama raga can reduce anxiety.

• Apparently, some ragas are meant for nine emotions or navaras. Some ragas, musicians claim, have healing effects because these nine emotions govern our body and our mind.

Source: Indian Journal of Psychiatry