Music plays such an important role in people’s lives. We use it to commemorate the highs and lows of life and it serves as a connection to various memories of our lives whenever we reflect on the past.
We all have that one song we turn to when we are going through some form of heartbreak or hurt. And on the flip side, there is that song that gets us going, regardless of how we feel it can have us bopping and dancing. “Our relationship with music can be a very beautiful, vulnerable, and often complicated dance that shifts from moment to moment based on our mood, preferences, social situation, and previous experiences. There are times where music can have a clear and immediate impact on our well-being:
- easing a transition to sleep with a soothing playlist
- finding motivation for exercise by listening to upbeat dance music
- aiding self-expression of emotions by singing
- connecting to others by attending a live musical performance.”[1]
As such music is certainly a form of therapy and has been formerly developed and used by doctors as treatment. “Music therapy is an established health care profession that uses evidence-based music interventions to address therapeutic health care goals. Music therapy happens between a patient (and possibly their caregivers and/or family) and a board-certified music therapist who has completed an accredited undergraduate or graduate music therapy program.”[2]
“Music therapists use both active (singing, instrument exploration, songwriting, movement, digital music creation, and more) and receptive (music listening, guided imagery with music, playlist creation, or music conversation and reminiscence) interventions, and create goals to improve health and well-being.”[3]
Dementia and Alzheimer’s patients have been known to be supported with the use of music from their lives. The sounds and voices of those who have been at the backdrop of their lives assist in settling patients, bringing back precious memories as well as calming their nerves when they are in an agitated state.
“‘Since the rhythmic pulses of music can drive and stabilize this disorientation, we believe that low-frequency sound might help with these conditions,’ [Lee Bartel, PhD, music professor, University of Toronto] says. He is leading a study using vibroacoustic therapy with patients with mild Alzheimer’s disease. The hope is that using the therapy to restore normal communication among brain regions may allow for greater memory retrieval, he says.”[4]
[1] Lorrie Kubicek, “Can music improve our health and quality of life?” Harvard Health Publishing, July 25, 2022, https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/can-music-improve-our-health-and-quality-of-life-202207252786.
[2] Ibid.
[3] Amy Novotnry, “Music as medicine,” American Psychological Association, Monitors of Psychology 44, no.10 (November 2013): 46, https://www.apa.org/monitor/2013/11/music.
[4] Ibid.