Stress management:

Music therapy, the best form of healing

by Nilma DOLE

Have you ever noticed how you immediately relax after a hard day's work when you listen to soft music? After a strong bout of negative emotion, haven't you found yourself listening to easy music to calm your senses? If you're one of those people who is 'healed' by good music, then don't you think that doctors should use it to treat patients?

For many diseases or health conditions, music therapy is now becoming a valuable tool in healing and aiding in the healing process internationally. Taking this type of therapy forward in Sri Lanka is Dr. Samith Siritunga of the National Health Institute, Kalutara who has been researching into this area for some time.

He says, "This mode of therapy uses music to promote healing and enhance the quality of life and is often used and prescribed in the management of stress. It is a complementary therapy that is used along with other treatment to help patients cope mentally and physically with their diagnoses".

The starting point of Dr. Siritunga's research into music therapy was when he discovered that the leading cause of hospital deaths in Sri Lanka is Ischaemic Heart Disease. "A gradual increase of morbidities and mortalities due to ischaemic heart disease has been observed over the past few decades," he said. The doctor who has 11 years of service experience both in the curative and preventive health sectors, is the epidemiologist for the Kalutara area. Dr. Siritunga said, "Stress can cause heart disease either due to the unhealthy behaviour associated with stress or due to its own independent effect".

Music is used along with other treatment to help patients

Speaking about the treatment of heart disease, the doctor said, "Treatment for stable angina varies depending on the symptoms and the stage of the disease. The general treatment includes medication, surgery and lifestyle changes. Yoga and other physical activities, massage, aromatherapy and music therapy may also help to promote relaxation and stress reduction". He said, "There are many preventive programs mainly based on lifestyle modifications. This was how I decided that music therapy was the best form of healing."

Music therapy deals with the "controlled use of music and its influence on the human being in physiologic, psychological, and emotional integration of the individual during treatment of an illness or disability". It has also been defined as the "behavioural science that is concerned with the use of specific kinds of music and its ability to produce changes in behaviour, emotions, and physiology".

Stress management

The doctor said music is believed to be effective in the treatment of different types of illnesses due to its effect on the physiological processes of the human body. "It is thought to be an effective type of management of stress and it affects the nervous system of the human being and alters the autonomic tone through different pathways", he said.

The music he developed consists of four basic components-tempo, pitch, volume and rhythm. The doctor said, "Relaxing music stimulates various parts of the brain by different ways and improves feeling and expression".

He added, "By acting on the autonomic nervous system it lowers the heart rate and blood pressure and improves regular deep breathing, muscular relaxation and sleep and by acting on the autonomic nervous system it also relieves pain, influences mood and memory, lowers the metabolic rate and frees fatty acids". Therefore, when music is used as a therapy, the effects of music on the human body have to be considered.

Often, pregnant women play music to their unborn babies which has been proven to make the babies smart. According to international music therapy experts, unborn babies can hear clearly at about 20 weeks into the pregnancy and research suggests that they will remember the music that was played to them until they are about twelve months old.

Music therapy is an intricate technique where a trained music therapist harnesses the good side of soft, easy-to-listen to music and all aspects from physical, emotional, mental, social, aesthetic, and spiritual to channel the right energies. This helps improve the patients' health and well-being. Music therapists most often help clients further their basic bodily functions which can be both physical and mental.

Even though music therapy is still developing in Sri Lanka, there are musicians such as Prasad Karunamuni who have developed the art of mind relaxation music. Referrals to music therapy services should be integrated into Sri Lanka's mainstream health services to reap the maximum benefits. Experts like a treating physician or an inter-disciplinary team consisting of clinicians such as physicians, psychologists, physical therapists, and occupational therapists should be aware of music therapy specialists and obtain their services as and when necessary.