It probably sounds like a millennial thing, but there’s just one reason behind music therapy’s growing popularity: it works. And why wouldn’t it? Humankind has had a long, budding relationship with music.
In fact, our love for it is even a mystery for science. Even when you’re not actively aiming to get therapeutic benefits out of listening to music, it’s soothing and relaxing.
Most people will tell you that they listen to music when they’re sad: because it relaxes and relieves them. To get to the bottom of this, let’s learn more about what music therapy entails.
Music Therapy
The link between music therapy and depression has been formally studied for many years now. Music’s effects, specifically on older adults, have also been explored. Research backs the efficacy of music therapy when it comes to depression, with plenty of literature expounding how both active and passive exposure to music affects a depressed individual.
The research tells us that music puts us at ease and makes us more open to conversation. This is why it’s now a major part of positive psychology. And it comes with a number of benefits:
It Reduces Stress and Anxiety
If you doubt this works, stop everything and listen to your favorite music right now. We can guarantee that you’ll feel far more relaxed—even chirpy—by the end of it.
Not only does music make you feel less stressed, but it also diminishes the symptoms of stress: your muscles won’t be tight anymore, for example.
It Can Promote Healing
Of course, we don’t mean your broken bones will be healed when you listen to Leonard Cohen. But it is true that when your body is—physically and mentally—in a relaxed state, you’re more likely to heal because your muscles are stretched too tightly all the time.
It Helps With Depression
Depression is a deadly and silent disease, affecting over 264 million people in the world. Getting over it is a matter of time and support. In addition to your friends and family, your favorite boy band can also help you battle depression. Even listening to your favorite blues when you’re having the blues can help make you feel better.
It Improves Your Communication and Self-Expression
Music has also been known to make people more open, more sociable. When you’re on the music therapy curve, you’re being exposed, constantly, to manners of expression.
This is bound to make you more verbose, more coherent, and can help you make better conversation.
Who is Music Therapy For?
To be honest, it’s for anyone and everyone: music therapy makes you more perceptive, more attentive, boosts your cognition, and helps you feel pleasure and relaxation—and everybody wants that.
In particular, your emotions have a direct connection with your endocrine, immune, and nervous system—which is why music therapy works so well for people who experience dysfunctions in these systems.
Do You Need Music Therapy?
If a loved one suffers from Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s disease, it’s time you got some music therapy sessions scheduled for them. Dr. Farzin Pedouim, a leading movement disorders specialist in LA, can help you—so get in touch with him today!
