Music therapy is very popular and pretty effective. Music therapy has been tested many times and it has worked like wonder. It is extensively used as a healing solution to the patients suffering from various diseases.
Music therapy is not only limited to increase personal development, behavior development, self-consciousness of an ailing person, but it is also even helpful to intensive care patients. Here are the benefits of music therapy and how to improve your life.
The use of music as a medication was found in ancient Greece in the 5th century. Music and dance were used in the treatment of mental diseases. In present days, music therapy is used to reduce the anxiety and stress level. It plays a pivotal role in modern stress management.
Music therapy not only helps stress busted people but also helps people suffering from chronic illnesses. In this case, patients are allowed to listen to their favorite music for a specific time period. It has been proved that these music therapy sessions rejuvenate the patients and bring back the lost confidence in their life. Growing positive mindedness is indeed a very good sign for a patient suffering from chronic diseases over a long period of time.
Since music therapy has a tremendous healing and soothing effect on several critical diseases, it is considered to be a secondary treating element for different diseases along with regular treatment process.
It can reduce stress, anxiety, pain and controls blood pressure, respiratory rate, heart rate. Apart from that, patients suffering from post-surgical problems, cancer, and Alzheimer’s disease get a positive result using music therapy.
An intensive care patient suffering over a long period of time often weakens the nervous breakdown system. Usage of music therapy leads to a sudden change to the surrounding condition of a patient and may result in a worse condition of health.
A huge diversified collection of crystal players representing cultural and ethnic community is very effective to use for all the intensive care unit patients.
Music therapy should always be conducted by an expert registered therapist to get maximum benefit out of it. It is of no doubt that music therapy is the most expressive amongst all therapies.
Music Therapy – A Great Advantage for Your Health
If listening to a classical concerto makes you feel all warm and fuzzy inside, music therapy may unlock the secrets to life’s many mysteries for you. Similarly, if hearing a Rolling Stones song or even an old Blues recording makes you swoon with joy and delight and can bring you out of a funk, then music therapy may be just what you need.
Music therapy is thought to originate in veterans’ hospitals, helping those who came back ravaged from the war acclimate better to the often traumatic injuries they suffered.
The idea is that music is used as a therapeutic vehicle to achieve goals that are not really related to music at all. The parallels are obvious: speech and singing, walking and movement, rhythm and motor skills. As music has been scientifically proven to enhance mood as well, it’s thought that music therapy can optimize people’s abilities to interact and communicate on many, many levels.
People who can benefit from music therapy are manifold. They can be both adults and children, either those who suffer from certain disabilities or those who have chronic health problems. Advocates of this type of therapy say it works in a variety of ways and can improve not only an individual’s emotional well being, but also help them physically, cognitively, socially and even on an aesthetic level.
Some people find it hard to communicate for a variety of different and varied reasons that are either developmental, social and/or physical and feel that communication through or with the use of music is the best way to open up. Music is used purely as a vehicle; it’s thought that the communication between the patient and the therapist is the most crucial aspect.
The music can “talk” to the Soul and the Mind of the people very easily and effectively!
According to the American Music Therapy Association music therapy can:
* promote wellness
* manage stress
* alleviate pain
* express feelings
* enhance memory
* improve communication
* promote physical rehabilitation
The History of Music Therapy
The use of music to make us feel happy has been around for time immemorial, while the therapeutic effects of music have been recorded more than 1,500 years ago. The idea of music as an established therapy.
Music therapy is thought to originate in veterans’ hospitals, helping those who came back ravaged from the war acclimate better to the often traumatic injuries they suffered. An undergraduate degree program in the discipline was founded at Michigan State University not long after, and the rest is history.
Many universities now offer degree programs in music therapy, and it is not as uncommon as you might think.
Music Therapy and Strokes
Music therapy to help people with strokes is seen as being especially important as music has been shown to have a strong impact on the brain, affecting particularly social interactions and emotions. The therapy has been proven to help people who have experienced strokes improve their speech and communication, cognition, mood, motivation, movement, and muscle control.
This can be accomplished by a variety of exercises set out by a trained music therapist. They include rhyming, chanting and singing to exercise mouth muscles, playing on the drum to exercise arm muscles and control and creating songs to match the patient’s gait.
Particular emphasis is put on exercises that can increase mood and motivation, which in turn affect a lot of other activities. They include song-writing, lyric writing, performing, improvisation and more. “The emotional and aesthetic qualities of music are used to improve mood, to increase motivation, and to assist in pain management,” says the Institute for Music and Neurologic Function.
Music Therapy and Heart Disease
Music therapy can also help heart patients. An American Heart Association Scientific journal reported the results of an Italian study saying that music can “synchronize and influence” the cardiovascular system and that crescendos increased the heart rate and lowered blood pressure.
Previous studies showed that music could be used as a therapeutic tool for people with neurological impairments. The studies showed that music improved athletic performance, enhanced motor skills and reduced stress overall for people with impaired brain function.
There is also evidence that music therapy can help limit nausea and vomiting experienced by cancer patients on a course of chemotherapy, and that it can help alleviate symptoms of depression and insomnia.
Music Thanatology for the Sick and Dying
Another aspect of music therapy that is less widely prescribed is known as music thanatology, derived from the Greek term “Thanatos”, which means death. It involves the use of music to help with the physical and spiritual care of people who are dying and to help their loved ones deal with the grief when they eventually do pass away. Incorporating the use of music in palliative care programs is becoming more and more common, as people begin to understand the benefits it can bring.
Music-thanatology can take many forms. Sometimes a trained musician will come to a dying person’s home and play harp music for them. Other times people will play a “music vigil” for the dying patient, easing their passing and providing support and comfort to their friends and relatives as well.
“The goal is to support the patient and family, not to seek applause.
A music-based approach has been scientifically proven to help people in many aspects of their lives. Both children and adults can benefit from its application. Look for a music therapist near you if you think you or someone you know could benefit from this well-established health care profession.
The music is a divine gift for the world. Don’t ignore it. Many times, if not always, the music is a Miracle! The music is not only for the humans. It can heal the animals and the flowers too!
Read the ancient Greek myths about music and you will understand how important is the music for our lives.