Effects
of Music Therapy in Overcoming Depression
– Dr. T. MYTHILY Ph. D
Introduction
Depression has become a common terminology being utilized by everyone alike. Unable to comprehend the incidents or events in the right spirit may be one of the reasons for landing in depression. Comprehending the activities of others in the social situation, either in the classroom, in the midst of peers, understanding the concepts toward studies, even it applies while learning to play a new game in the case of children. Every individual should be trained to develop a clear thinking process as habit. Too much negative thinking may also lead to depression.
Depression in the clinical sense is the extreme version of the more ordinary emotion of sadness and low spiritedness. During depression the activities of brain is considerably reduced especially in the frontal areas. On account of this, activities pertaining to the frontal areas of brain may not be able approached or comprehend clearly. The number works and planning will be of substandard level. To come out of this there are many techniques available in the health awareness field. With out much side effects and positive after effects, Classical Music with specific notes enhances activity in the frontal areas of brain.
Why an individual get into depression?
It may be an unacceptable question. But in the medical field everything has to be questioned to get a better and applicable result.
Aim
To find the effect of classical music, to help patients with depression to overcome the same and be in a normal acceptable emotional state.
METHODOLOGY:-
28 Participants /individuals in the age group of thirty and forty four years have been selected for the study. In this group there were twenty four females and four males. The selected participants were all under the grip of depression for more than twelve months and are under regular medication. Initially as an adjunct to medication, the passive form of music therapy has been administered to them. After two weeks of regular exposure to music therapy sessions the activity level of the participants were shown differences toward required trend. From the third week onwards the duration of music therapy sessions were enhanced to forty minutes from twenty minutes, and also from two sessions to three sessions per day. This procedure of giving music has been continued till the end of the study say for ten weeks from now on with slight variations.
The selected ragas played through a string instrument, recorded and given to the participants in the audio form with specific instructions about listening and sessions.
FREQUENCY TABLE:-
Natural Sceneries : = 9
River & water : = 6
Forests jungle : = 4
Fresh & active : = 5
Routine : = 2
Fast movement : = 6
Lonely/Sobering : = 1
Happy and gaiety : = 2
Playful : = 3
Calm & quietness : = 4
DISCUSSIONS:-
The brain sends to and receives messages from the rest of the body ceaselessly, every minute, second and fraction of a second. As for the receiving side of things, the brain gets information from our senses—vision, hearing, touch, taste, smell, etc. We can be constantly aware of these. But there is another major source of input to our brains, and thus ultimately to our mental lives ... our bodily hormones. These are secreted by our endocrine system and include sex hormones, like testosterone and estrogen, and a group usually called “stress” hormones, like ACTH, adrenaline and cortisol.
A capsule summary of the way stress hormones are released into the blood stream is that the brain, sensing stress, ultimately releases ACTH from the pituitary gland at the base of the brain, itself controlled by neural and hormonal messages from its link to the brain, the overlying hypothalamus. When ACTH reaches the adrenal glands, they release adrenaline and cortisol into the blood stream. These have many effects on target organs, including the release of stored glucose for energy, increasing blood flow to the muscles and increasing blood pressure, all as part of a constellation of bodily mobilization for possible action, defense or whatever. One effect of stress hormones is to dampen down the immune system, so that unfortunately continual stress can reduce the ability to fight disease. Although this counterintuitive effect of stress hormones is not fully understood, it should not be ignored.
There are several interesting implications. First, there has been a substantial “boost” about the importance of music. Music Medicine emphasizes music as a most serious subject for deepest study in human behavior and human health, rather than as a cultural “frill”, as it is so often wrongly depicted. Such a view would not have been possible a generation past. This extension to medicine complements earlier and still vital approaches to music research that began as laboratory studies of perception, cognition and related processes.
Second, the enlarged domain of music research and application promotes creative interactions among trained professionals who possess different backgrounds, assumptions, experiences and even interests. This enrichment of music research informs and invigorates the field.
Third, since medicine is to a large extent the application and working out of fundamental biological knowledge and principles, music can serve as a bridge across levels of inquiry, i.e., molecular, cellular, systems, normal function and behavior of an individual, prevention and therapy of behavioral and health problems. And here it is well to keep in mind that music affects behavior and health principally through its effects on the nervous system, particularly the brain and interactions between the brain and the rest of the body.
While oversimplified, this sketch provides a basis for understanding how music affects the body. And of great interest, how the body then affects the brain. As noted above, the brain also receives the effects of the hormones which it has commanded glands (e.g., the adrenals) to release. So there is “feedback”. In other words, our brains and our glands are in a continual pas de deux . Now a fascinating fact is that a major result of the release of adrenaline (also called epinephrine) is to affect the brain, particularly an almond-shaped group of brain cells termed the amygdala. The amygdala can be thought of as a major emotional command center. When the amygdala is particularly active, it is believed emotions are experienced. There is another important effect—when an experience causes adrenaline to be released and ultimately activate the amygdala (actually through the mediation of another hormone called noradrenaline), memories of the initiating experience are strengthened. That is, the body tells the brain how much adrenaline was released Which in turn modifies how strongly the brain stores the memory of the event which started the whole thing. In short, when we experience something very important, even traumatic, a lot of adrenaline is released which “instructs” and the amygdala to help other parts of the brain store stronger memories.(1) So, as we come to the question of music and hormones, we must realize that hormones secreted in the body and affecting bodily processes, such as the cardiovascular, muscular and immune systems, also affect the brain.
There are now several studies, mainly within the last five years or so, that have addressed the issue of whether music itself actually changes the amount of release of our stress hormones. Most of these have concentrated on measuring levels of cortisol before and after various exposures to music.
Table I Shows the Level of Depression Before MT Sessions
The level of depression before the music therapeutic sessions were in the highly unsatisfactory level. Participants were unable to find a line of light in overcoming their depressive state of mind. The answers to the questionnaire given by the patients were highly gloomy and the patients were looked very dull. Of all the thirty five participants to the music therapeutic sessions, except five of the participants rest of them scored high 70+ in the questionnaire. It shows the patients were not able to think and answer to the given questions and rate it with responsibility. In all the four segments of the questionnaire the answers were bloomy and absurd.
Table II Shows - Effects Of Music Therapy Depressive Patients .Pre- Post Results
The Pre –Post results reveals that after the tenth week every individual score is really in the satisfying level. Every individual who participated in the therapeutic sessions have experienced the clear thought process, able to think and involve themselves in the given activity with motivation, able to connect things and reach to a conclusion. The answers given to the questionnaire, at the end of the tenth week ,revealed that the tough segment, and the number segment answers were positively rated, the level of negativism in the initial stage of the treatment were completely left out and the trend of positive ness emerged over these weeks. For the purpose of sustaining the results participants were instructed to visit the sessions two more weeks later on to continue to listen the given music in their residence. Rather advised to make it as a habit to listen music regularly.
Table III Shows the level of Depression over the Weeks
Music therapy given to depressive patients regularly over the weeks helps them to see things in the brighter side of the events. The ten weeks therapeutic program yielded positive results and the patients were able to come out of the depressive state of mind slowly and steadily. Every two weeks the depressive level of patients were assessed with the help of a questionnaire. In the four segment answer to each segment changed and the pattern of understanding the question were also differed from the previous week’s assessment. Which revealed that the level of depression is reducing able to think clearly and shown improvement in the positive trend. At the end of the ten week period almost all patients enrolled in the therapeutic sessions have felt the brighter side of their mind. For one or two patients it has taken two more weeks to attain this level of brightness. The participants were instructed to listen the music with involvement and continue to do the same even suggested to make it as a habit.
There is no significant improvement in the level of depression. The answers for four segment questionnaire does not revealed any specific change in the pattern of answering. The thought process makes them more dull, unable to few analogies and arrive at a conclusion after four weeks of diagnosis. Few of the participants in the control group that the music therapy sessions should be given to them also thereby they can too experience the pleasure of coming out of the depressive mood. Here the experimenter really felt bad about the condition. For the purpose of research , she has to do this way with out any attachment. After the research period, later on she has given a free Music Therapy CD for depression for, these participants also.
CONCLUSIONS:-
The research community is well aware of Music Medicine, the wide domain of public readership has remained largely uninformed. Music Hormone can provide bases for learning about and understanding the challenges and successes of Music Medicine and allied fields. These will expand and increasingly impact the daily life. So, “Be Prepared”!
The first step in the management of depression in any level is awareness of the problem and facing the same with knowledge will help individual with depression to lead a normal and healthy life. Music therapy in this regard helps to overcome the depression without much trouble. With particular emphasis on women and her health, though they have multi faceted roles, need to pay attention to their own health while crossing the middle age in their life span.
1. There are individual in this study to take, classical music in the right spirit.
2. Classical music helped almost all individuals in this study to over come the depressive state of mind.
3. For all the participants in this study, the clarity of thought process improved over the weeks.
4.There is no sex difference find out in this study. Both male and female have responded with same level.
5. With regard to causes of their depressive state of mind the responding level of the patients to the music therapy sessions varied in days,- not in weeks.