We know music can affect our mood for better or for worse. But how? Read more to find out!
October 17th, 2018
New evidence published in the British Journal of Psychiatry suggests that music therapy can improve the mental health of people with depression. A group of scientists: Anna Maratos, Mike J. Crawford, and Simon Procter examined possible mechanisms of action of this complex intervention and suggest that music therapy partly is effective because active music-making within the therapeutic frame offers the patient opportunities for new aesthetic, physical and relational experiences.
According to a national poll of listeners to a favorite BBC music station in 2004, the best way to improve one’s depressive symptoms musically is to listen to ‘I Know It’s Over’ by The Smiths. Hence the widespread availability of down-hearted rock does not appear to have diminished the prevalence of depression. And although listening alone to music that is personally meaningful is what many people imagine music therapy to be, the reality as practiced in the UK and many other parts of Europe is entirely different.
Click here to read the full study to understand the value of music therapy as part of the range of interventions available for the treatment of people with depression.
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This article is a re-post, with small modifications, of “Music Therapy For Depression: It seems to work, but how?” an article published on cambridge.org
Click here to visit the original content.
