FEATURE:
Dr. Feelgood
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The Physical and Psychological Nourishment and Benefits of Music
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GIVEN what is going on…
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in the world around us, it seems like every day is one where we have to absorb more bad news! Whether it is something coming from the news, or the weather being massively unpredictable, there is this constant stream of fear and struggle. That all sounds bleak, though I feel – as many do – music has incredible benefits in that regard. I will come to a new article that has piqued my interest. Before that, Harvard Health Publishing put out an article last year that highlighted the benefits music has on mental wellbeing and anxiety reduction:
“How can music impact our quality of life?
Recently, researchers looked at the impact of music interventions on health-related quality of life, and tried to answer the question about the best way to help make that shift toward release, relaxation, and rehabilitation. This recent systematic review and meta-analysis (a study of studies) showed that the use of music interventions (listening to music, singing, and music therapy) can create significant improvements in mental health, and smaller improvements in physical health–related quality of life. While the researchers found a positive impact on the psychological quality of
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Complexities of music
As complex human beings from a wide variety of cultures, with a variety of life experiences and mental and physical health needs, our connection with music is very personal. Our relationship with music can be a very beautiful, vulnerable, and often complicated dance that shifts from moment to moment based on our mood, preferences, social situation, and previous experiences. There are times where music can have a clear and immediate impact on our well-being:
There are other times when a board-certified music therapist can help you build that connection to music, and find the best intervention and "dose" that could positively impact your health and provide a form of healing.
How can music be used as a therapeutic tool?
Music therapy is an established health care profession that uses evidence-based music interventions to address therapeutic health care goals. Music therapy happens between a patient (and possibly their caregivers and/or family) and a board-certified music therapist who has completed an accredited undergraduate or graduate music therapy program.
Music therapists use both active (singing, instrument exploration, songwriting, movement, digital music creation, and more) and receptive (music listening, guided imagery with music, playlist creation, or music conversation and reminiscence) interventions, and create goals to improve health and well-being.
Some of those goals could include decreasing anxiety, shifting your mood, decreasing pain perception during cancer or other medical treatment, increasing expression, finding motivation, and many others. The approach to using music to achieve these kinds of goals — and to improving your quality of life in general — can shift from moment to moment, and a music therapist can help you find what works best for a particular situation”.
A lot of the benefit from music comes with selecting the right type. If you are sad, choosing music that is quite downbeat or slower could be more use than happy music. You can accept your feelings - and there is that companionship with the sound and tone. Of course, more uplifting songs can elevate mood and help you break out of a funk. Naturally, as a disclaimer that needs to be put in right away: music as therapy and medicine is no substitute for therapy and medication: merely an alternative and additional form of assistance. To be fair, music aides those with memory issues and conditions like dementia. Music can help people unlock memories and parts of their brain that you would imagine to be ravaged and inaccessible. I am fascinated to see whether, in years to come, music as a companion to talk therapy and medication, is used to treat those suffering from a range of psychological disorders. We know about the mental health benefits. That is crucial at a very stressful and strange time. So many people cannot get a referral for a GP or counselling because of long waiting lists. It is really tough for those in need to get all the help they require. Of course, once more, music is not the answer and way around that. Merely, it has this therapeutic and healing power that can provide, at least, some form of temporary balm and clarity. In some cases, listening to music can help people to make important decisions, eradicate severe stress, and also ease their depression. Your brain can be kept young with music. There is almost that miraculous impact music can have on elderly people living with degenerative illnesses. It is amazing and humbling that a simple tune can make such a difference on a human being!
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I am not sure whether we ever really think too about music’s physical benefits. Physical illness can be accompanied by physical issues. As someone with depression, anxiety and sleep issues, I often get aching muscles, headache, back pain and a sluggishness that is not really alienated or made better by medication. I have been thinking about this after an article in The Guardian asked that question: could we use music like medicine?. Prior to that, this Healthline article from 2020 explored and explained the way music can impact physical health:
“Music’s effects on the body
It can help your heart health
Music can make you want to move — and the benefits of dancing are well documented. Scientists also know that listening to music can alterTrusted Source your breath rate, your heart rate, and your blood pressure, depending on the music’s intensity and tempo.
It decreases fatigue
Anyone who has ever rolled down car windows and turned up the radio knows that music can be energizing. There’s solid science behind that lived experience.
In 2015, researchersTrusted Source at Shanghai University found that relaxing music helped reduce fatigue and maintain muscle endurance when people were engaged in a repetitive task.
Music therapy sessions also lessened fatigue in people receiving cancer treatments and raised the fatigue threshold for people engaged in demanding neuromuscular training, which leads us to the next big benefit.
It boosts exercise performance
Exercise enthusiasts have long known that music enhances their physical performance.
A 2020 research review confirms that working out with music improves your mood, helps your body exercise more efficiently, and cuts down on your awareness of exertion. Working out with music also leads to longer workoutsTrusted Source.
In clinical settings, athletes who listened to high-intensity, fast music during warmups were motivatedTrusted Source to perform better competitively.
You don’t have to be a world-class competitor to benefit: ResearchTrusted Source shows that syncing your workout to music can allow you to reach peak performance using less oxygen than if you did the same workout without the beat. Music acts as a metronome in your body, researchers said”.
That is all amazing to read. Hospital waiting times are rising, and GPs are struggling and not being supported by the Government. The figures make for alarming reading. More does need to be done, as the NHS is being betrayed (I would recommend this book by Dr. Julia Grace Patterson, that explains more the ways in which the NHS is being ignored; how vital the service is too). Whilst funding and commitment from the Government needs to happen to ensure that the NHS can avoid privatisation and huge problems, there is this amazing outlet – maybe ‘alternative medicine’ – that you get from music. Recently, David Robson asked (perhaps rhetorically) whether music can benefit physical health. It seems like the more research comes out, the more we can understand all the fascinating and hugely inspiring ways music can impact people dealing with a whole range of illnesses and complexities:
“The academic literature tends to distinguish “music medicine” from “music therapy”. The latter requires the participation of a trained expert and may involve playing an instrument, composing or improvising. Music medicine is far easier to roll out: it involves listening to recorded music and can be done by yourself.
As you might expect, the creative expression of music therapy produces the most consistent benefits, but multiple studies confirm that the mere act of listening can be an effective treatment for symptoms of depression, anxiety, insomnia and physical pain. Two trials have even found that a regular prescription of music can reduce the blood pressure of people with hypertension by 6mmHg. That’s enough to lower the risk of a stroke by 13%.
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Music medicine may work its magic through a range of mechanisms. While it might seem obvious that happier tunes can get you out of a rut of negative thinking, many people who feel sad also benefit from listening to something melancholic. It’s possible that these pieces help us to accept our feelings without fighting them, which is often important for recovery. Depending on the track, we might feel a sense of connection with the artist’s expression of the emotions we are encountering, which could lead us to recognise the shared humanity in our suffering – a prerequisite for self-compassion – and allow us to find meaning in what we are experiencing.
At a physiological level, low-tempo tracks could help to entrain the electrical activity in the brain stem to slower rhythms, which can bring about a more tranquil mood and regulate other biological processes – such as heart rate and respiration. Repeating musical motifs, producing a buildup and release of tension, are also known to play with the brain’s prediction and reward circuitry. This can trigger the release of neurotransmitters such as dopamine and endogenous opioids, which ease both emotional and physical pain. At its most extreme, we may feel these neurochemical changes as musical frisson or “chills” – an intense aesthetic experience”.
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From increased sexual arousal and better sex, to the way music can provide physical therapy and rehabilitation, I think we will see a day soon where music, alongside conventional therapy and medication, is prescribed by doctors. The fact that music can be as beneficial for the body as the mind is really important! Often medications and therapies deal with one or the other. Music’s lack of limitations is truly wondrous! The more research that comes out, the more it can be harnessed and used in a targeted way. Whether that is providing moments of clarity and consign for those with Parkinson’s, to people suffering physical maladies, it is an area that warrants greater exploration and focus. 20th September was National Playlist Day. Music for Dementia provided a useful guide as to how to compile a playlist across various streaming platforms:
“Make a playlist
A playlist is a list of songs that you can store and play online using a service such as Spotify or YouTube. You can create different playlists for different occasions. For example, you might want to have a ‘Good morning’ playlist of cheerful songs to help your family member get up in the morning. You could also have playlists for getting washed, getting dressed, going out or relaxing towards the end of the day.
Have a look at our easy guides on how to make online playlists of favourite songs using these online streaming services:
How to make a playlist on Spotify
How to make a playlist on YouTube
How to make a playlist on Apple Music
How to make a playlist on Google Play
How to make a playlist on Amazon Music
The Playlist for Life site also has some easy guides on how to create a playlist for someone living with dementia”.
It is really exciting seeing new research come out. It seems lately there have been quite a few findings. I feel a lot more of us are feeling the psychological and physical impact that the changing of the seasons and the tide of bad news is having. Degenerative illnesses are so upsetting for families and sufferers, so any breakthrough regarding music and its role in keeping memories alive is brilliant! The physical benefits - on the heart, head and whole body - is really inspiring and encouraging. The fact that Music as a subject is not going to be on school curriculums soon enough is extra heartbreaking when you understand how beneficial it can be for children. It is also a fantastic social lubricant and tool that was invaluable when i was a child in the 1990s. I will keep saying that one cannot see music as this magic elixir and cure for all know ills. It is, at the very best, a useful aide to medicine and physical/talk therapy…though it is a fascinating and constantly-evolving ally and curiously wide-ranging tool. I think all of us right now can appreciate the benefits music holds. You may need to chose the song carefully depending on your mood or need. Set some time aside, let the music play…
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AND reap its benefits!