Music: The Best Medicine

Music is the universal language. It offers an outlet for people of all ages, backgrounds, ethnicities, religions, nations, and now it is being used as a tool to make people healthier.

Music has always had a significant impact on society and people’s lives. It stands the test of time and helps shape cultures. Music can help you express your identify and beliefs, as well as helping define who you will be by adapting as you grow as a person. It evokes emotions and can be an outlet when you are dealing with mental health issues, physical health issues, or social issues. It helps children learn and develop, it comforts the elderly by bringing back memories of the past, amplifies the voices of communities and introduces people to new cultures. Music is a gateway to the world and a kind of therapy that is unmatched by any medication, which is why physicians, entrepreneurs, and patients around the world are now turning to music as a real therapy intervention.

Music therapy has become a clinical and evidence-based practice that uses music interventions to achieve individualized therapeutic goals. It is applied in various settings to improve mental, emotional, physical, and social well-being. There are a number of ways music is used as therapy from having patients play music, to purely listening, and even sometimes composing their own music. They are categorized as receptive, re-creative, improvisational, compositional, active vs. receptive, and specialized music therapy techniques. Within these buckets there are 5 types of music therapy interventions including improvisational, analytic, guided imagery, neurologic, and behavioral.

Improvisational Music Therapy: Clients create music spontaneously, which helps in expressing emotions and improving social interaction

Analytic Music Therapy: Focuses on creating improvised music to explore and reflect on emotions.

Guided Imagery and Music: Combines music listening with imagery to explore emotional and psychological states.

Neurologic Music Therapy: Uses music to address cognitive, sensory, and motor dysfunctions.

Behavioral Music Therapy: Utilizes music to modify behaviors, often used with children with autism or developmental challenges.

Music therapy has many benefits on mental and emotional health. It has been shown to significantly reduce symptoms of anxiety and depression, improve individual’s ability to express emotions, and enhance mood and help promote relaxation. It has also been shown to be effective in managing several mental health issues such as schizophrenia and mood disorders. Techniques like improvisation and lyric analysis help individuals explore and process difficult emotions, often emotions related to trauma and grief, providing a therapeutic outlet.

Music fosters social connection and can transcend language barriers which improves mental health through human interaction. It enhances communication skills and helps in emotional exploration, benefiting individuals with developmental and learning disabilities. Therapists use music to help regulate patients’ mood and calm the neocortex of the brain, reducing impulsivity and anxiety. Music therapy can also improve attention, concentration, and social interaction skills.

It can positively impact brain health, specifically in older adults by improving memory as exposure to lyrics can help people remember the content of a song. The documentary Alive Inside follows Dan Cohen, a social worker, while he brings music to people in nursing homes with dementia and shows the impact it can have on memory. In the movie, we witness music opening people seemingly in a vegetative state, come back to life when hearing a song and suddenly being able to retain cognitive function that was not there only seconds prior.

Music therapy can also impact physical health by helping lower cortisol levels in the body. Learning to play or sing music is often used in therapies to improve motor skills and encourage movement. Hospitals have been using music therapy to manage pain for patients undergoing surgery or dealing with chronic pain conditions. It can reduce the perception of pain by providing a distraction and altering pain pathways in the brain. Listening to music can improve cardiac output, lower blood pressure, and reduce heart rate improving overall cardiovascular health.  

Through promotion of rhythmic breathing and reducing tension, music therapy can enhance respiratory function and help improve overall breathing patterns. Music therapy aids in relaxing tense muscles and alleviating physical discomfort, especially during medical procedures or in rehab settings. Active music making in compositional music therapy engages the brain and body, improving fine motor skills and supporting the recovery of some of these functions in patients with conditions such as stroke or Parkinson’s and even those who have suffered a traumatic brain injury.

There are many companies working to democratize access to music therapy through virtual services and online resources. From AI-driven personalized music therapy to mobile applications for children to technology that enables physicians and qualified practitioners to provide care through music, there are many innovations happening in the space as we begin to see more clinical outcomes around this type of treatment. Music therapy interventions are diverse and have endless use cases, many still yet to be discovered. Beyond use in traditional clinical settings, music can be used in many ways to improve our overall health. Music has the ability to heal and to connect, so sing in the shower, let your kid bang on the drums, and soak in the elevator music, it could change your life.