Psychoanalysis on the Universal Therapy Supplement: Music Therapy
As centuries have gone by, classical music has evidently been passed on as a treasure from generation to generation. The language of music is undoubtedly a ubiquitous human trait. Musics’ healing power has been documented in various studies and research across the world. Classical Music can serve as a therapy but can it obscure the human thought? Like any other form of art, music can be viewed from an aesthetic perspective but can medically serve to also act as a therapy with numerous health benefits. Music may be therapy, but it can also affect the way an individual thinks, affect their lifestyle, and how they process information if patients flood of overstimulation. Music therapy comes in many forms: singalong, composition, musical games, or simply meditation with music. What are the effects of music therapy and to what extent can it alter thinking? Despite the fact that some may claim music therapy to be over-credited or exaggerated, when combined with other forms of therapy, music therapy has proven that it would increase mental health and assist in lessening psychological disorders; Nevertheless, long term positive effects can also be observed in the lives of those who engage in music therapy.
Music has been studied as a cognitive phenomenon over the past three decades. Classical music consists of diverse complex processes and characteristics combined together to make the final masterpiece. Characteristics such as pitch interval, tempo, rhythm, melodic contour and rhythmic contour are all just some of the major aspects that need to be taken into consideration when creating a piece of music. It is no wonder why research has found that music stimulates brain plasticity, the brain's ability to change and adapt as a result of experience, through the activation of multiple domains of the brain. Scientific evidence in this field of research emerged in the branch of cognitive neuroscience and psychology, also referred to as neuromusicology: music cognition. “Advances in research methods, tools and techniques, such as functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), EEG, event-related potential (ERP), transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) and magnetic encephalography (MEG)” are a contributing factor to the exponential growth of this field (Hegde, 2017). Improved understanding of the neural correlates of music has contributed significantly to the understanding of how the human brain functions. It has also facilitated a paradigm shift in the field of music therapy. Music is considered to be a biological phenomenon, not just a sociocultural phenomenon. This has led to a shift from social science and interpretive models to neuroscience-based music therapy, targeting multiple domains of the brain’s function.
Music therapy has been proven to improve one’s psychological status. Research suggests that background music, or music that is played while the listener is primarily focused on another activity, can improve performance on cognitive tasks in older adults. Classical Music is able to stimulate the brain and cause the brain to function and use different quadrants of the brain. One of the most highly publicized mental influences of music is the “Mozart effect”. The phrase “the Mozart effect” came into being in 1991 and is described as a result indicating that listening to Mozart’s music may induce a short-term improvement on the performance of certain kinds of mental tasks as “spatial-temporal reasoning”. A more modern effect of this “Mozart Effect” also suggests that listening to Mozart makes you smarter, or that early childhood exposure to classical music has a beneficial effect on mental and intellectual development (Jacobs, 2010). Music therapy can be used with children at a young age to stimulate their brain, indicating that it may have a long term effect on brain development. Dowd stated that “... brain mapping revealed that professional musicians have more grey matter in their right auditory cortex than non-musicians, as if practicing an instrument flexed a muscle in the brain” (Dowd, 2008). Dowd added, “it seems increasingly likely that the long-term practice of playing music, rather than merely listening, can have the kind of impact suggested by the Mozart Effect'' (Dowd, 2008). It is evident here that a correlation can be seen between music and brain development. The idea of music therapy can be applied to children at a young age to increase brain plasticity while they are growing.
Every piece of music is linked to a certain mood. Music can impact the well-being and mindset of an individual whether it be the feeling of happiness, sadness, energy or relaxation. For this reason, music therapy has been studied to help manage the mental condition of an individual. Different types of music evoke diverse neurological stimulations. For example, “classical music is found to give comfort and relaxation while rock music may lead to discomfort” (Ulbricht, 2013). Although some may believe that music therapy does not lead to valuable results, this may be countered with the idea that they are not listening to the kind of music that will achieve therapeutic effects. If used correctly, Classical Music may work the effects of an efficient antidepressant as studies have shown that baroque music as well as Mozart can have “conclusive beneficial effects on depressed patients”. Depression is a common mental illness that causes the change in mood and loss of interest and pleasure. Depression is associated with low levels of dopamine or a low number of dopamine receptors in the brain. Music therapy is able to reduce depressive symptoms and anxiety, and helps to improve functioning such as maintaining productivity in job, activities, and relationships. Music therapy, an intervention that involves regular meetings with a qualified music therapist, may be used here to improve mood through emotional expression (Ulbricht, 2013). Evidently, research has proven that when an individual is listening to classical music, they can increase their dopamine levels. Music therapy can improve quality of life by lessening depression levels and improving capabilities to cope with psychiatric symptoms without the use of narcotics. There is a finding that music therapy provides short-term beneficial effects for people with depression. Music therapy added to treatment as usual (TAU) seems to improve depressive symptoms compared with TAU alone. Music therapy for depression is likely to be effective for people with in decreasing symptoms of depression and anxiety.
Music can also heavily reduce stress. Listening to music has a tremendous effect on relaxing our mental state, especially slow, quiet classical music by lowering our stress hormones. Listening to music can lower your body’s level of cortisol, a hormone that can contribute to feelings of stress and anxiety (Koelsch, Fuermetz, etc, 2011). Researchers discovered that patients who listened to music while undergoing surgery had lower levels of cortisol when compared to patients who did not listen to music during the procedure. While music can reduce stress and anxiety, music can also contribute to better sleep habits. Listening to music before going to bed has been shown to improve sleeping patterns and can be used to treat insomnia. Since sleeping is another natural stress-reducer, the cycle of listening to music to reduce stress will also result in lower stress levels experienced as a result of better sleeping habits.
Just as how music can act as a therapeutic device, there are also claims that attack this idea. Although classical music can induce relaxation and peaceful states, there are music that can cause agitation. If one truly does not like classical music, then listening to classical music may not be relaxing to them. These individuals that have strong preference in their taste of music may be outliers to the research studies done on how effective music therapy can be. They could be outliers to research solely due to their personal preference in music. There is evidence that reflects how a listener’s personal taste in music is more likely to have desired effects for pleasant stimulation (Ulbricht, 2013). This shows that although music therapy can lead to very promising results, it may not be for everyone due to the diverse preferences in music. Research may show many positive effects of music therapy but this may not guarantee that everyone will benefit from the procedure as there are still cautions needed to be taken into account in this technique.
As music absorbs our attention, it acts as a distraction at the same time it helps to explore emotions. Music can be an aid to meditation, helping to prevent the mind from wandering. As a therapy, music is proven a way to reduce stress and to get into a mindful state of consciousness (Scott, 2018). It helps the brain reach a meditative state, promoting relaxation. This resulted in the fact that listening to music may be a less intimidating way for a client to practice meditation (Scott, 2018). The primary purpose of music relaxation is to induce a calm state where the mind can relax, and the muscles will be able to loosen up to shred the built-up stress. Music relaxation is also a vital component in some yoga retreats, where instructors will moderate the room lights and minimize any external distraction before playing the tune. It is also a positive way to unwind ourselves every day and aids improve emotional resilience over time
Music does not affect our productivity directly. However music affects our mood and energy, which in turn affects how productive we are. Nine out of ten workers perform better when listening to music, according to a study that found 88% of the participants produced their most accurate test results and 81% completed their fastest work when music was playing. As shown, music is a very powerful management tool if one wants to increase not only efficiency of one’s workforce but also their mental state, their emotional state- they’re going to become more positive about the work.- Dr. David Lewis, a neuropsychologist and chairman of Mindlab International, the company that conducted the research.
Not only can listening to music have therapeutic results, but learning an instrument and playing classical music can also be a stimulation to the brain and drive brain plasticity. Learning a piece of classical music requires much detail and focus to every note and articulation in a piece of music. Professional musicians have been used over a span of 15 years to model brain plasticity. The reason why musicians are the target individuals for studies on brain plasticity is because of their expertise in their musical instruments. To perform “two three-second segments of the 11th variation from the sixth Paganini Etude by Franz Liszt, for example, requires the production of 30 notes per second” (Jäncke, 2009). There is a tremendous amount of training needed in order to achieve this kind of speed in the fingers in order to perform this piece. Through the numerous hours that these concert musicians use to practice these unimaginable difficult pieces, a general finding of the research studies show that nearly all of the brain areas involved in the control of music expertise “motor cortex, auditory cortex, cerebellum, and other areas” show the specific anatomical as well as the functional features that are used in musicians when they are performing and learning a piece of music. Whether they be professional or semi-professional, they are continuously and actively using multiple parts of their brain which stimulates and drives brain plasticity. This study shows how much the practice of learning music can stimulate the brain due to the brain activity needed to process and learn music.
Here is a performance of Paganini Etude by Franz Liszt performed by a concert pianist Alexander Lubyantsev:
Musical training as well as evidence-based music therapy have been proven to improve sensorimotor, language and cognitive functions in the non-musical domain of the brain. Up until this era, classical music in the Western tradition has been scientifically examined to a far greater extent compared to the classical music from any other tradition. However, results have proven that the findings are generalisable. Different forms of music can stimulate different parts of the brain and have similar performances to the brain due to the fact that these pieces of music from various cultures carry common features in their making. Nonetheless, traditional music of various cultures should be systematically studied to determine their unique value, if any, in a therapeutic scenario.
The effects of the therapeutic outcome of classical music helps people recover from psychological sickness. Through research, there is strong scientific evidence that supports the claims on how music therapy can foster mood enhancement and reduce anxiety and stress relief. Autism, dementia, depression, and sleep quality are all conditions that have been studied under therapy (Ulbricht, 2013). Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) is a condition characterized by the struggle in communication and social interaction, as well as unusual, repetitive behaviors for individuals. People who suffer from autism often show heightened interest and response to music in research studies. This shows how music therapy can aid in the teaching of verbal and nonverbal communication skills for people with autism, allowing them to establish a more normal developmental process. Insomnia can result in neurological changes that may lead to depression and anxiety. Music may result in a significantly better sleep quality as well as longer sleep duration, greater sleep efficiency, less sleep disturbance, and less daytime dysfunction. In younger children, music therapy may also act as effective as chloral hydrate in inducing sleep or sedation in children undergoing EEG testing.
The fact that classical music can be provided as a therapy is only a bird’s eye view of the vast subject. The potential that classical music can do has only grown exponentially as research is conducted as further research is being developed. Of all of the genres of music being used in music therapy, classical music is one of the more powerful tools that can develop and stimulate the human brain that can allow access to much further development. Evidence has proven that classical music as music therapy can have very promising results in treating patients with different kinds of disorders or conditions. A recent study conducted by the University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee noted that heart-attack survivors in a hospital ward claimed to have felt less anxious immediately after listening to classical music. When the patients listened to classical music, their heart rates slowed from an average of 79 beats per minute to 71, and the average number of breaths they took dropped from 17 to 16 per minute (Woolston, 2020). Their claims and statistics support the positive medical effects of listening to classical music and there was an increase in their “ heart-rate variability”, a sign that their hearts were growing stronger and more flexible. There's no doubt that if used correctly and supplemented with other drugs and activities, music is capable of reducing the anxiety felt by patients.
On the contrary, music therapy can cause minor harm to the participant as well. During music therapy, there are many devices that may be a distraction for individuals to pay attention such as headphones during medical procedures which may interfere with the cooperation of the music therapy procedure. Music provides a distraction for the mind, it can slow the rhythm of the body, and it can alter our mood, which in turn can influence our behavior. It is yet to be stated if music will have a positive or negative effect on the task given but it will provide a distraction nonetheless. All therapeutic encounters carry possible risk. The potential risks of music therapy vary according to the type of music experience, or method being used. Depending on clients’ needs, they may be invited to improvise, perform, compose, or listen and respond to music. Music therapists must not only understand the inherent benefits of these various methods but also the unique risks associated with each other. Risks inherent to a music listening experience may include overstimulation and convulsion. This would be a relevant consideration for a person who has sustained a brain surgery or who has a neurological disorder that impacts their ability to make meaning of sensory input. And while a listener takes in music to guide their movement schemes, as when dancing for self-expression or the release of stress, there is always the risk of physical injury.
Conclusion
These are all cautions needed to be taken into consideration when one is going through music therapy. Small details to these procedures may be overlooked and cause individuals to believe in unpromising results when it can be due to minor distractions.
By itself, music therapy has not been shown to consist of enough treatment for medical conditions, including psychological disorders. However, when combined with medication, psychotherapy, and other interventions, it can be a valuable component of a treatment plan. Music itself can have positive effects on pain, sleep disorders, memory, depression, anxiety and other diseases. Therefore when conducting therapy, music therapy should definitely be considered to supplement with other treatments to increase effectiveness. It doesn't hurt to have more music exchanged in the world.
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I've actually spent a significant amount of time researching music therapy and its effects on those with mental illnesses including depression and anxiety. I'm primarily interested as research does suggest, as explored by your post, the many benefits it can have. Unfortunately, like many other therapies, music therapy is a more expensive treatment option. There are a few apps that attempt to replicate the therapy for people to use at home, however, the effects are not nearly as promising as with a trained therapist one on one.
Your comments on classical music are also interesting. I tend to listen to classical music when I study or do work and when I was younger I listened to classical music before bed.…
I've actually spent a significant amount of time researching music therapy and its effects on those with mental illnesses including depression and anxiety. I'm primarily interested as research does suggest, as explored by your post, the many benefits it can have. Unfortunately, like many other therapies, music therapy is a more expensive treatment option. There are a few apps that attempt to replicate the therapy for people to use at home, however, the effects are not nearly as promising as with a trained therapist one on one.
Your comments on classical music are also interesting. I tend to listen to classical music when I study or do work and when I was younger I listened to classical music before bed.…