Music therapy in cancer treatment

During cancer surgery, music therapy may work well as a supplemental treatment. The anxiety that comes with breast cancer surgery can be effectively, safely, quickly, and enjoyably managed with a little music therapy session before the procedure.

A study found that music therapy helps women who are having surgical breast biopsies for cancer diagnosis and treatment feel less anxious. The goal of the study, which was published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, was to ascertain whether music therapy had any impact on surgical anxiety levels, the need for anaesthesia, the length of recovery, or patient satisfaction.

“We discovered that anxiety levels dropped significantly from pre-test to post-test in patients who heard one preferred song of either live or recorded music before surgery,” said Jaclyn Bradley Palmer, music therapist at University Hospitals Seidman Cancer Centre. “In this trial, both live and recorded preoperative music therapy interventions reduced anxiety significantly more than usual preoperative management by 28 and 27 points, representing percent reductions of 43 percent and 41 percent, respectively.”

The two-year study out of University Hospitals Seidman Cancer Centre involved 207 patients.

Before surgery, whether the patient heard live music or pre-recorded music, music therapists would engage the patient in a brief music therapy session lasting five minutes that included the patient’s preferred song, conversation about the music choice, and processing of any emotions that may have arisen. The two groups who had either live or recorded music during surgery also listened through headphones to pre-recorded harp music that had been carefully chosen by the staff for its mellow melodic lines, steady rhythms, and consistent dynamics.

The research further checked whether live music or recorded music was important. “There wasn’t a significant difference in anxiety between live music and recorded music,” added Bradley Palmer. “It seems like music, no matter how it is delivered, had a similar effect on reducing a patient’s preoperative anxiety.”

“We know that music touches parts of our brain: The emotional center that creates a release of our body’s natural opiates, for example, endorphins, enkephalins, and serotonin. All of those things that are released are triggered by auditory stimulation, and music is prime in that… and it’s without using any pharmacologic intervention-it is simply using the music as medicine.” Said Deforia Lane, Ph.D., Director of Art and Music Therapy at UH Seidman Cancer Center and one of the co-authors of the study.

“What we can conclude from our findings is that music therapy may effectively serve as a complimentary modality during cancer surgery treatment. A brief music therapy session has the ability to manage the anxiety that surrounds breast cancer surgery in a way that is effective, safe, time-efficient, and enjoyable,” said Bradley Palmer.

Music for social justice

Within the context of using Music for psychological counselling and uniting people, Sandra Curtis has gone deeper into the practice to examine feminist music therapy. Explains Curtis, “This type of therapy often presents work with an explicit focus on social justice for women, children, and other marginalized people but it can also expand to address such global issues as war and the environment with a feminist understanding of their impact on marginalized people worldwide.”

An example of this intimate relationship between sound and the human soul is music therapy. It serves as a guiding light for individuals, families, and communities, illuminating the way to recovery and wholeness. May we be mindful of the healing potential of music therapy and its ability to unite even the most disjointed of souls as melodies weave through the fabric of our lives.

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Source: https://www.sciencedaily.com, https://my.clevelandclinic.org, https://www.darbar.org

Help is here:

Name of the Organisation: Music as Therapy, India

Music as Therapy is based in Hyderabad. Since 2015 it supports caregivers to introduce music for children with learning disabilities and autism. Most recently the institute has been considering the ways music might help local carers for people living with dementia.

Website: https://www.musicastherapy.org/country/india/

Contact : info@musicastherapy.org