Integrated Digital Media Capstone - my app design phase 1 -
I am researching what I want to create, I wanted to make something that stands out and celebrates life while supporting people. I think music heals people that’s a thing.
This is my app design made for Iphone X
Does Music Have Healing Powers?
Studies shows music is a potent treatment for mental health.
Reposted Jan 20, 2021
Music matters. That’s what musician Pete Seeger showed us. Seeger was a pioneer in the use of music to influence change. His combination of incredibly catchy melodies and thoughtful, socially conscious lyrics in songs such as “We Shall Overcome,” “This Land is Your Land,” “If I Had a Hammer,” and “Turn, Turn, Turn” were a powerful influence on national movements, including the fight for civil rights, world peace, and environmental protection.
While Seeger is best known for using music for social change, an important part of his legacy is the potential for music to affect change on a personal level. When Seeger said, “This machine surrounds hate and forces it to surrender,” he was throwing down the gauntlet. Music can heal.
Nowhere is this legacy more clear or important than in the movement to use music to treat mental illness. One in four adults in the U.S. suffers from a mental illness in a given year, yet only 40 percent receive treatment. The public health implications are considerable; mental health issues cost the world $2.5 trillion annually in health care costs, loss of functioning, and loss of life.
Alternative and complementary treatments such as creative art, meditation, and yoga have been proposed to bridge this gap. But music, because of its ubiquity in our society as well as its ease of transmission, has perhaps the greatest potential among alternative therapies to reach people who do not otherwise have access to care.
Does music heal emotional suffering? Research says yes.
We now know through controlled treatment outcome studies that listening to and playing music is a potent treatment for mental health issues. Research demonstrates that adding music therapy to treatment improves symptoms and social functioning among schizophrenics. Further, music therapy has demonstrated efficacy as an independent treatment for reducing depression, anxiety, and chronic pain.
There are several mechanisms by which music can have this effect. First of all, music has positive physical effects. It can produce direct biological changes, such as reducing heart rate, blood pressure, and cortisol levels.
Also, studies suggest that exposure to prosocial lyrics increases positive thought, empathy, and helping behavior. The message in a lyric such as “We shall overcome” may be able to reach more people than all of the psychotherapists in the world combined.
Finally, music is a connecting experience. Seeger was well known for his use of the sing-along, and he made his goal of building communities explicit, saying, “The idea of using music to try to get the world together is now all over the place.” Research clearly demonstrates that improved social connection and support can improve mental health outcomes. Thus, any music that helps connect people can have a profound impact on an individual’s mental health.
Countless other musicians with a message, such as Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, and Rage Against the Machine, have taken to heart Seeger’s statement, “Participation. That’s what's going to save the human race.” His influence can also be seen in organizations such as Musicorps, which heals disabled vets through teaching music, and Rock Against Dystrophy, which organizes concerts to raise money for the Muscular Dystrophy Association.
Pete Seeger is one of the spiritual godfathers of using music to improve mental health and well-being. Mental health professionals must capitalize on the path he blazed to continue the important work of improving public health and well-being.
Dr. Mike Friedman is a clinical psychologist in Manhattan and a member of EHE International’s Medical Advisory Board.
Healing through music
Posted November 05, 2015, 8:00 am Beverly Merz
Executive Editor, Harvard Women's Health Watch
ARCHIVED CONTENT: As a service to our readers, Harvard Health Publishing provides access to our library of archived content. Please note the date each article was posted or last reviewed. No content on this site, regardless of date, should ever be used as a substitute for direct medical advice from your doctor or other qualified clinician.
The last time I had a mammogram, I got a big surprise — and it was a good one. A string quartet was playing just outside the doors of the breast imaging center, and my thoughts immediately shifted from “What are they going to find on the mammogram?” to “Is that Schubert, or Beethoven?” By the time my name was called, I had almost forgotten why I was there.
The unexpected concert was the work of Holly Chartrand and Lorrie Kubicek, music therapists and co-coordinators of the Environmental Music Program at Massachusetts General Hospital. But bringing music to hospital corridors is just a sideline for music therapists. The majority of their time is spent using music to help patients accomplish specific goals, like recovering their speech after a stroke or reducing the stress of chemotherapy.
Chartrand is a vocalist and graduate of Berklee College of Music. She decided to become a music therapist when she realized that she could use music to support others just as it had supported her throughout her life. “The favorite part of my job is seeing how big an impact music can have on someone who isn’t feeling well,” she says.
What is music therapy?
Music therapy is a burgeoning field. Those who become certified music therapists are accomplished musicians who have deep knowledge of how music can evoke emotional responses to relax or stimulate people, or help them heal. They combine this knowledge with their familiarity with a wide variety of musical styles to find the specific kind that can get you through a challenging physical rehab session or guide you into meditation. And they can find that music in your favorite genre, be it electropop or grand opera.
Music therapists know few boundaries. They may play music for you or with you, or even teach you how to play an instrument. On a given day, Chartrand may be toting a tank drum, a ukulele, or an iPad and speakers into a patient’s room. “Technology gives us so much access to all kinds of music that I can find and play almost any kind of music you like,” she says.
The evidence for music therapy
A growing body of research attests that that music therapy is more than a nice perk. It can improve medical outcomes and quality of life in a variety of ways. Here’s a sampling:
Improves invasive procedures. In controlled clinical trials of people having colonoscopies, cardiac angiography, and knee surgery, those who listened to music before their procedure had reduced anxiety and a reduced need for sedatives. Those who listened to music in the operating room reported less discomfort during their procedure. Hearing music in the recovery room lowered the use of opioid painkillers.
Restores lost speech. Music therapy can help people who are recovering from a stroke or traumatic brain injury that has damaged the left-brain region responsible for speech. Because singing ability originates in the right side of the brain, people can work around the injury to the left side of their brain by first singing their thoughts and then gradually dropping the melody. Former U.S. Representative Gabby Giffords used this technique to enable her to testify before a Congressional committee two years after a gunshot wound to her brain destroyed her ability to speak.
Reduces side effects of cancer therapy. Listening to music reduces anxiety associated with chemotherapy and radiotherapy. It can also quell nausea and vomiting for patients receiving chemotherapy.
Aids pain relief. Music therapy has been tested in patients ranging from those with intense acute pain to those with chronic pain from arthritis. Overall, music therapy decreases pain perception, reduces the amount of pain medication needed, helps relieve depression, and gives people a sense of better control over their pain.
Improves quality of life for dementia patients. Because the ability to engage with music remains intact late into the disease process, music therapy can help to recall memories, reduce agitation, assist communication, and improve physical coordination.
How to find a music therapist
If you’re facing a procedure or illness, or just want relief from the stresses of daily life or help sticking to an exercise program, a music therapist may be able to help you. You can find one on the website of the American Music Therapy Association.
