Music Therapy May Contribute for Treatment of Depression

Person who experience depressive disorders is not just fairly to get medication. To obtain more effective results, the patient may to add other therapies such as music therapy. Catharine Paddock, PhD describes in his article published in medicalnewstoday (11 / 9 2011), by helping people to express their emotions, music therapy, when combined with standard treatment, seems to be an effective treatment for depression, at least in the short term, say researchers from the University of Jyväskylä in Finland who wrote about their findings in the August issue of British Journal of Psychiatry.

The study, led by Professor Jaakko Erkkilä and Gold Professor Christian, and his colleagues, recruited 79 people of working age (18 to 50 years) living in Finland, who has been diagnosed with depressive disorder using ICD-10 Classification of Mental and Behavioral Disorders.

The participants were randomly assigned to receive 20-60 minute sessions of individual music therapy plus standard treatment (33 people), and standard treatment alone (46 people). In Finland, the standard treatment for depression consists of antidepressant drugs, 5 to 6 sessions of individual psychotherapy, and psychiatric counseling.

Twice a week, with aid therapist of trained music, in a one to one session, participants in the intervention group had to learn how they improvise music using hammer tools, musical instruments or acoustic percussion, West African djembe drum.

On average, each participant in this group attended 18 sessions with 88% (29 individuals) attending at least 15 sessions.

The clinical investigators assess all participants at the star in the study, then at 3 months and 6 months later. Assessment includes identifying symptoms of depression, anxiety, general function, quality of life and alexithymia (the inability to express feelings in words).

The researchers found that:

• After 3 months, participants with depressive symptoms receiving music therapy and standard treatment showed greater improvement than those who received only standard treatment (mean difference 4.65, 95% CI 0.59 to 8.70 Confidence Intervals), anxiety (1.82, 95% CI 0.09 to 3.55) and general function (-4.58, 95% CI -8.93 to -0.24).
• However, after 6 months, although still visible improvement, the difference between groups was no longer statistically significant

They concluded that:
"Music therapy individually and in combination with standard treatment for depression, will be effective at working age with depression. The results of this study along with previous research show that music therapy with specific qualities is a valuable addition to treatment programs."

Gold told the press that, "Music therapy has certain qualities that allow people to express themselves and interact in a non-verbal -. Even in situations when they cannot find the words to describe their inner experience"

Erkkilä agreed, and added that they found people who often express what they feel with drums, or with tone that is made with means of a hammer.

"Some people describe their experience of playing as a catharsis," added Erkkilä.

One way to interpret this result is that music therapy helps, but only while it lasts, that is during the first three months of research.

However, although small, the trial seems well designed and conducted, such as Dr Mike Crawford, a specialist in mental health services at the Center for Mental Health, Imperial College London, in England, wrote in an accompanying journal editorial, "This is a randomized trial quality high specific music therapy for depression, and the results show that it can improve mood and general functions of people with depressive disorders."

"Music-making of social, fun and meaningful. It has been argued that making music that involves people in a way that may not be done with the words," he added. Music therapy can be additional contributions in treatment of depression such as depression in patient with chronic disease.

Erkkilä says that one now needs to replicate the findings "with a larger sample of people, and more research is needed to assess the efficiency and effectiveness-cost of music therapy for depression".