How Is Music Therapy Good For Mental Health?

In the past few years, a lot of research and studies have been done regarding the role of music in maintaining mental health and the benefits of music therapy. The results have shown that be it, children or adults, music therapy helps in relieving various mental problems. Let us read more about it.

Many researches done in various countries confirm that music is very beneficial for our mental health. Research and studies based on the impact of music and music therapy on mental health have shown that it provides relief in many mental disorders such as depression, PTSD (Post-traumatic Stress Disorder), Schizophrenia, etc.

Studies On Music therapy

In 2012, scientists from Brunel University in the UK studied changes in brainwaves with the help of Electroencephalogram EEG, which monitored the changes in brain waves when exercising with music or exercising without any music. In the results of this study, experts found that music changed the electrical waves of the brain, which increased the level of enjoyment while exercising by 28 percent. At the same time, the level of enjoyment was found to be increased by 13 percent in those who exercised in the open environment without music. In the study's conclusion, the researchers cited music as a performance-enhancing drug, an anti-fatigue, and a way to communicate positivity.

In the Research Journal of the American Academy also, research was published in the same regard. In this, a team of pediatric psychiatry from the College of Medicine of the University of Vermont studied the effect of music on the brain of children. The researcher and director of the Vermont Center for Children, Youth and Families and psychiatry specialist Prof. James Hujack and his partner Matthew Aalbaugh and research assistant Elin Crahan found that playing a musical instrument has a profound effect on brain development in children.

In the research, the brains of 232 children aged 6 to 12 years were scanned. The study assessed the effect of music on the cortex of children's brains, and it was found that playing music activates brain operating centers. This results in changes in those parts of the brain which work on behavior control.

So, How Is Music Beneficial?

Experts comment that different types of music evoke different neurological reactions in the brain. According to experts, some of the major benefits of music therapy are:

1. Relief In Neurological Conditions
   Experts believe and results of various researches have also shown that music therapy or simply listening to music provides great relief to conditions like Alzheimer’s, Dementia, Aggression, and other mental and neurological disorders.
   Significantly, music can also be used as a form of sensory and intellectual stimulation, which can help maintain a person's quality of life.
2. For Better Sleep Quality
   In a research published in the Journal of PeriAnesthesia Nursing, it was claimed that music therapy shows similar results as that of sleeping pills. Experts of the research say that music can significantly improve problems like insomnia and improve sleep quality, in both children as well as older adults.
   In research, experts from the University of Pennsylvania found that people who slept only 4-5 hours a night for 7 days were generally more mentally tired, stressed, depressed, and angrier.
3. Reduces The Risk Of Stroke
   Research on music therapy and blood pressure, published in the International Journal of Cardiology stated that music therapy can reduce the systolic blood pressure levels, which additionally reduces the risk of strokes.
4. Music Therapy For Sensory Problems
   Music therapy is also used to improve sensory problems, social skills, self-reliance, cognitive ability and motor skills.

A large number of people around the world face depression and other mental conditions. Here also, music therapy can be helpful and it has no other side effects.