The Effects of Music Therapy on Mentally Handicapped People

The Effects of Music Therapy on Mentally Handicapped People

Music therapy is a controversial but effective form of rehabilitation on mentally handicapped people. A great amount of research has been completed on this subject. It has been proven that our brains respond to music as if it were medicine. Music therapy is not a commonly used health care, but recent studies have suggested it can have a wide range of benefits.
Music therapy is the prescribed use of music and related strategies, by a qualified therapist, to assist or motivate a person towards specific, non-musical goals. This process is used in order to restore, maintain, and improve emotional, physical, physiological, and spiritual health and well being. At the heart of music therapy is vibration. This is backed up by modern physics, which has taught us that all matter is in a constant state of vibration. Everything has a unique frequency. Illness occurs when some sort of dysfunctional vibration intrudes on the normal one. Sound can be used to change these intruders back to normal, healthy vibrations, which restores health.
Although music therapy is a fairly new method of health care, it dates back thousands of years. “The use of sound and music is the most ancient healing modality.” It was practiced in the ancient mystery schools of Egypt, India, and Rome for many thousands of years. In the Iliad, Apollo, the mythical god of music and medicine, stopped a plague because he was so pleased with the sacred hymns sung by Greek youths. Pythagoras, who discovered that all music could be expressed in numbers and mathematical formulas, founded a school that trained students to
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release worry, fear, anger, and sorrow through singing and playing musical instruments.
Today, the power of music remains the same, but music is used much differently than it was in ancient times. Music therapy in the United States began in the late 18th century. The profession of it began to develop during World War II when music was used in Veterans Administration Hospitals, as an intervention to address traumatic war injuries. Veterans participated in music activities that focused on relieving pain perception. Many doctors and nurses could see the effect music had on their psychological and emotional state...

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...or that activity. When you’re angry or frustrated, play an energetic piece of music. Move your body for five to seven minutes, letting the music release your emotions. Then your mind can look at the situation with a brighter outlook. If you want a deep relaxation but have problems with formal meditation, sit somewhere quiet, hum or chant different vowel sounds and “direct” them to various parts of your body. When we create and focus on sound, we begin to stop the constant thoughts in our minds, which is the first step to deep relaxation.
Even though you have inquired all this information, you might still be wondering how such simple things like music and rhythm could work all this magic. Well, no one really knows. It is a mystery. But researchers have known for a long time that listening to music can directly influence pulse, blood pressure, and the electrical activity of muscles. Neuroscientists now suspect that
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music can actually help build and strengthen connections among nerve cells. Although many people will not agree with or even believe all the wonderful acts that music can do, it can be a highly effective form of rehabilitation for anyone.