Music therapy may be used to improve treatment of depression, about in short term, found researchers from Finland. The non-verbal communication method is used to help patients express emotions. The researchers from the University of Jyvaskyla carried out a study on eighty people.
The patients treated with music therapy showed greater improvement in comparison to those who received the standard therapy. The experts believe that music may engage people in ways that words cannot. Music therapists are already using music therapy to help children who struggle to comminute.
Playing instruments and singing with a trained music therapist is believed to help children express themselves. The study participants suffering from depression were given the routine practice of counseling and suitable medication. Among eighty participants, thirty-three were also given twenty sessions with trained music therapist that engrossed equipments like drumming.
After the duration of three months study participants who received music therapy showed a better improvement in scores of anxiety and depression in comparison to other group of patients. But there was no statistical improvement after the periods of six months. The study was published in the British Journal of Psychiatry.
According to lead author Prof Christian Gold, the study trial has shown that music therapy, when added to standard care helps people to improve their levels of depression and anxiety. Music therapy has precise traits that permit people to convey themselves and interact in a non-verbal way, even in situations when they cannot find the words to express their inner experiences.
The results of the study suggest that it can improve the mood and general functioning of people suffering depression. Music-making is social, pleasurable and meaningful. It has been argued that music making engages people in ways that words may simply not be able to, explained Dr Mike Crawford, who specializes in mental health services at Imperial College London.