By Saskia Constantinou
THE INHERENT qualities of music in association with medicine and therapies for a variety of illnesses can be traced back to antiquity.
Although music is a soothing and healing medium, which encourages the expansion of mind and spirit, it was only in the 1950s that it was officially recognised as a therapeutic tool.
In the past two decades, a resurgence of interest in this field has focused attention on clinical and experimental research to evaluate the physiological and psychological effects of music on the body.
Music therapy is the use of sounds and music to support and encourage physical, mental, social and emotional well-being. As responding to music is an instinctive human ability, music therapists are clinically trained to use a variety of techniques such as musical improvisation, singing, composition, listening, performance and movement in order to achieve therapeutic goals.
One of the main advantages is that music can often express the inexpressible and so facilitate the healing process.
Music Therapy is used internationally to help a wide range of clients/patients including orphans, victims of violence, people with physical or mental disability, the elderly, palliative care and work in hospital settings.
The interaction between music therapist and patient combined with the judicial use of music has produced numerous, documented benefits. These can range from improving the quality of life to enabling individuals to cope and integrate better into society.
Unlike verbal expression which is linear, the multi-faceted elements of music such as notes, rhythm, dynamics, timbre and texture allows patients to express themselves on several levels at once. As music has a stable framework with a beginning, middle and ending, it is the guidance of the therapist which is important rather the imposition of their own ideas.
An important therapy particularly beneficial for psychiatric patients, is done in groups where patients are able express their moods and ideas by playing their preferred instruments. This form of freedom and improvisation encourages musical dialogue with patients while reinforces the ability to compromise, listen and adapt their playing to others in the group.
Experts estimate than between 50 per cent and 80 per cent of all medically related disorders and directly attributable to stress and anxiety. This psychosocial stress can and often is the major catalyst in gastrointestinal problems, headaches, insomnia and coronary artery disease to name a few.
Coping with stress can be dealt with either by changing the environmental demands, or regulating the emotions which are associated with stress. This is where music therapy has the power to become an important alternative in the practice of stress management.
Through numerous studies, reports have been made about significant decreases in heart rate and skin temperature when classical music is used in the relaxation process.
A fascinating area of study in assisting with insomnia, panic disorder, major depression, attention deficit hyperactivity well as migraine and tension headaches is brain music therapy.
What is it and how does it work?
It was initially a groundbreaking method of treating insomnia without medication developed by Dr Iakov Levine, a Professor at the Moscow Medical Academy in Russia and further developed and utilised in the United States by Dr Galina Mindlin, Assistant Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at Columbia University who was given the exclusive rights to provide the treatment through her private practice in 2002.
Brain Music Therapy was the result of work done by clinicians, researchers, mathematicians and musicians who translated different ratio of brain wave rhythms into musical frequencies by using 18 transformation algorithms for 120 musical instruments.
Brain Music Therapy finds records and reinforces brain waves associated with various physiological parameters such as heart rate and muscle tension. The rhythmic patterns of brain waves promote distinct meditative and activating states but unfortunately, a person’s desire to fall asleep doesn’t always correspond to his or her brain wave state. In brain music therapy, an EEG (electroencephalogram) is taken and translated into unique musical compositions.
The musical sounds are then presented in two music files – one for relaxation and another for activation. Listening to the files reflects on individual brain wave patterns and so promotes the desired state of mind.
So once the doctor has taken a medical evaluation, the key wave patterns are recorded through the EEG for about five to ten minutes with patients asked to keep still and try to be in a relaxed state. The individual brain wave patterns are then processed through algorithms which extract key healing before being translated into a sound-based format of two musical compositions. After about three to four weeks, patients receive their personal brain music CD. Although each music file is unique, brain music generally sounds like classical piano music.
Apart from the individual customisation of the therapy, other major benefits of BMT (brain music therapy) include no use of chemicals, no withdrawal symptoms and the cost effectiveness of the treatment.
It usually takes three to four weeks of listening to the CD, which is about 12 minutes long to achieve sustained improvement. The recording eases the patient to sleep, decrease levels of anxiety and generally helps to cope with daily stress.
The second ‘activating’ recording is only two to three minutes long and reflects on the ration of fast brain waves and can be used throughout the day for a boost of energy and mood elevation. It also allows the individual to maintain focus, concentration and improve peak performance.
The results have been phenomenal with the treatment successfully used in a variety of medical settings since 1993in France, Italy, Switzerland and Canada benefiting more than 10,000 people.
As the brain is a human organism and constantly changes, repeatedly using the same therapy may desensitise the original effect. If this happens, it signals that the brain wave patterns have changed and the best solution would be to record a new EEG and obtain a modified set of music files.
Music therapy is now gaining even wider acceptance in the medical community and has stood the test of time with many therapists having success where other more traditional treatment methods have failed.
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