As some of the previously discussed research indicates, music can help reduce anxiety in both adults and children before and during medical procedures. Stress causes emotional and psychological pain as well, which music can help alleviate. Scientists believe the effect may result from music actually shifting brain activity away from pain-related connectivity patterns, as well as creating positive emotions, and offering a distraction. Most investigations into music’s health effects center on its ability to calm us down and relieve stress. In recent years, this research has expanded in exciting and surprising new directions.
It makes my home a refuge rather than a prison, and my son has mentioned he likes it, too. In the first few minutes of playing I feel a Great since of wellbeing, could be endorphins release, it is significant. I sleep with a CPAP that has diagnostics on it for Sleep time, Sleep depth, and Length of depth of sleep. I have noticed all three have Improved by just playing Kalimba for an Hour or so before bed, it is like taking a sleeping pill The shift in the nervous system is very apparent. I have several other instruments I play Saxophone, clarinet, Harmonica, Recorder Flute, NONE of these other instruments react the same way as the Kalimba does. I think the Kalimba is a Great tool for Sleep and manipulation of the Autonomic Nervous system.
People have used music for its powerful effects on mood and emotions for a long time. There is also evidence to suggest that those undergoing music therapy experience reduced anxiety immediately after the session, which indicates that music therapy could be a convenient way to reduce symptoms quickly. Music therapy does not rely on verbal communication, so it can be better for people who struggle to communicate verbally.
Eric Clapton penned and sang Tears in Heaven, a heartfelt expression of grief after the death of his son. Some people feel that the lyrics and instrumentals of a song can appropriately and succinctly say what they cannot. A song has the capability of sparking a prior memory of where you were when you once heard it. Sweitzer currently runs a therapy group via Zoom for COVID-19 survivors and says that playing music has helped patients open up about their struggles with the virus.
Consistently practicing an instrument is one of the best ways to take advantage of everything music does for us, including its many therapeutic benefits. On its own, music therapy may not constitute adequate treatment for medical conditions, including mental health disorders. However, when combined with medication, psychotherapy, and other interventions, it can be a valuable component of a treatment plan.
But it depends upon a variety of factors, including the type of music, the listener's enjoyment of that music, and even how musically well-trained the listener may be. In one study, musically naive students learned better when listening to positive music, possibly because these songs elicited more positive emotions without interfering with memory formation. 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. One study found that playing more upbeat music led to improvements in processing speed, while both upbeat and downbeat music led to benefits in memory. With brain-imaging techniques, such as functional MRIs, music is increasingly being used in therapy for brain-related injuries and diseases. Brain scans have proven that music and motor control share circuits, so music can improve movement for those with Parkinson’s disease and for individuals recovering from a stroke.
Whatever music you prefer and whatever it means to you, learning to make music on your own has so much to offer you wouldn’t find from anything else. The ways in which music can enhance our lives are both powerful and abundant. It can transport our minds to new places, inspire us with new ideas, stimulate our creativity, and make us feel alive. Apart from mere poetry, scientific analysis has determined that music actually influences our brain like no other medium.
A music therapy session has a combination of the joy of music and the positive impact of therapy. A major factor that can increase a person’s social anxiety is having to communicate with others, and having social anxiety can only make it harder to communicate. Discussing your emotions with a music therapist will not only help you to work through your emotions, but help you to improve your communication skills as well.
There are a variety of coping strategies that people use to manage social anxiety. Many people also seek professional help and treatment; one option for treatment is music therapy. Prolonged experiences of stress are related to poor individual health and associated with substantial financial costs for the society . As a result, the development of cost effective stress prevention or stress management approaches has become an important endeavor of current research efforts. Music has been shown to beneficially affect stress-related physiological meditation music [4–6], as well as cognitive , and emotional processes .
The State and Trait Anxiety Inventory was used to assess anxiety. The STAI consists of two 20-items questionnaires which assess state respectively trait levels of anxiety in clinical and non-clinical populations. The STAI-state was used as a continuous measurement for possible changes in anxiety during the experiment. The STAI-trait was used to control for the effect of anxiety as a personality trait in our sample . Demographic information such as age, education, medication intake, nicotine use and illnesses were collected using a demographic questionnaire.