Effects of Music Therapy on Psychiatric Patients

¶ … Music Therapy on Psych Patients

Effects of Music Therapy on Psychiatric Patients

Music therapy can be defined as such: "the controlled use of the influence of music on the human being to aid in physiological, psychological, and emotional integration of the individual during the treatment of an illness or disease" (Choi, Lee, & Lim 2008). Within music therapy there is an active and a passive form. In active music therapy, the patient is involved in playing an instrument or using the voice as an instrument. In passive music therapy the patient is at rest, envisioning peaceful images while listening to music (2008). The usual course of treatment for psychiatric patients consists of medication and psychotherapy, but in patients with severe mental illness, these types of treatment oftentimes have very limited effects. Psychotherapy requires that patients not only be intellectually able to benefit from it but also they must be motivated to change and heal. In the case of severely mentally ill individuals, oftentimes this is not the case. Thus music therapy is an interesting and -- arguably -- a better approach to working with psychiatric patients. Music is sometimes a motivating enough event (whether listening or playing) and patients can really benefit from its healing purposes, which have been proven to have beneficial effects on patients with anxiety, tension, stress, and mood disorders (2008). It is, of course, a very distinct form of treatment that moves away from the typical forms of treatment -- like psychotherapy (however, as a side note, music therapy can also be used in conjunction with psychotherapy), but it has been proven to work very well in psychiatric patients with a very low level of motivation when it comes to therapy (Gold 2009).

Music therapy can work in ways that regular courses of treatment for psychiatric patients cannot. In essence, music therapy uses musical interaction as a way of communication and expression (Gold, Heldal, Dahle & Wigram 2008). Gold (2009) points out that in this innovative form of treatment, marginalized groups can learn via music therapy to bring out certain resources in themselves and help them build social competencies. Music is seen as the main resource for the patient during the therapy sessions; however, the communication that is going on between the music therapist and the patient is also quite importance. The potential effects of the musical therapy sessions are to get individuals to feel and express emotions, to help develop and maintain relationships with other individuals, and to help them procure interest as well as motivation (2009). Some results have shown that music therapy has helped individuals with schizophrenia "to improve their global state, mental state and social functioning in the short to medium term" (2009).

Morgan, Bartrop, Telfer, and Tennant (2011) conducted a trial investigating the effect of music therapy during an acute psychotic episode and found that music therapy could be a useful adjunct to pharmacotherapy for patients who are suffering from acute psychosis. However, on its own, music therapy proved to be rather inconsequential for patients suffering an acute psychotic episode. Yet still, in another study, music therapy enhanced the quality of life and decreased social anxiety for individuals diagnosed with chronic schizophrenia or bipolar disorder who were not in the midst of a psychotic episode (2011), which points to the notion that while music therapy can be a potentially very beneficial way of managing psychiatric individuals' symptoms, it may not be the right way to deal with a severe psychotic episode.