Mental Health Music can be an incredible ally; it can help elevate your mood and heal broken hearts. Music has long had an influence in helping us manage through life’s most memorable highs and lows; recent research suggests music may even help combat depression and anxiety, amongst many other mental health conditions. Music therapy is one method employed by healthcare experts to support individuals as they work toward enhancing and managing their mental wellbeing, functioning, and prosperity.
What Is Music Therapy ?
Music therapy is a clinical and research-based practice wherein music is utilized to elevate an individual’s overall wellbeing and happiness. Musical advisors utilize various music-production techniques while supporting and working with their clients towards optimal mental health. Music therapy offers a unique and comprehensive way of recovering, as well as creating positive survival techniques; its impact has proven vital in aiding patients suffering from adverse events as well as posttraumatic stress syndrome (PTSD).
When To Use Music To Help
Music therapy has long been proven to increase knowledge, focus, and memory retention; improve mental health; build immunity; increase self-esteem and confidence; relax the mind or lift our mood, or aid fixation. Music can even assist sleeping disorders by inducing deeper restful slumber. Many individuals have described how music serves as a form of escapism to transport them quickly back in time or place. Here are six benefits music therapy can bring:
Improve focus for work or study: Recent research shows that listening to old style music helps the mind focus. Music with a rhythm of 60 BPM builds the brain’s capacity to handle data. There have also been studies which suggest EDM (electronic dance music) sharpens focus while studying.
As an outlet of expression: Music is an amazing way of conveying emotion and imagination without saying a single word. From sharing playlists of your favorite tunes with companions or playing guitar solos – music provides the ideal non-verbal means of expressing feelings that might otherwise be too complex for spoken communication.
Playing melodies to uplift our spirits: Playing inspiring tunes has an incredible way of rejuvenating our mind, increasing feel-good chemicals that positively enhance our state of mind and keeping us feeling great!
Subliminal and surrounding music such as binaural beat music has been demonstrated to help relieve anxiety and low self-confidence. Utilizing alpha waves from 8-14Hz helps your mind transition into more focused and secure mindset. Listening to binaural beat and isochoric tone music may also help when feeling down; your mind synchronizes to its new frequency presented by binaural beat music, producing a happier, more secure sensation of wellbeing in response.
Relax: Meditative music has an exhilarating, cathartic effect on us, soothing our spirits and encouraging relaxation of both body and mind. According to research, soothing piano, nature sounds, or string instruments have proven particularly successful at helping people unwind.
Music can help us express anger or express pessimistic tendencies: standing by listening to “angry” music can be therapeutic while managing stress and outrage.
Sorts Of Music Therapy
Different forms of music therapy exist depending on each patient and treatment procedure. Anyone can benefit from music therapy, including those experiencing depression, anxiety, substance use disorder, mental imbalances, neurological infections, behavioral conditions, sleeping disorders and dementia. Because music can evoke positive feelings while stimulating reward centers within our minds – music therapy helps lift patients spirits by:
- Singing or chanting
- Playing musical instruments
- Moving to music
- Songwriting
- Relaxing and meditating to music
Music specialists employ several strategies to aid patients with healing. Music therapy sessions may be conducted individually or as group meetings that foster community among clients by creating strong bonds among clients and serving as a focal point that encourages self-expression and exploration.