A violinist playing within the cancer ward. A playlist appears within the waiting room. A surgeon sounds with a radio mid-operation. We assume, almost without pondering, that music helps. But what if it doesn’t—or worse, if it does harm?
Since the start of time, music has been utilized in every culture as a positive a part of social and ceremonial events, including meals, hunting, courtship, weddings, funerals, coronations, sports and social events. But music has also been used as a weapon of war, to torture, humiliate and mislead people.
Music was used as Form of violence After 9/11 at Guantanamo Bay and by the Nazis, who Music prisoners were forced to entertain. When they were ravenous and waiting for death. It’s a disturbing thought that the identical force that brings us to tears in concert could be weaponized to interrupt people.
Similarly, in hospitals and clinics, music is usually seen as a low-risk and harmless technique to reduce anxiety in waiting rooms, as background support for employees within the operating theater and as an exercise stimulus in rehabilitation. Music is never recognized as one. A double-edged sword.
Music therapists are health care professionals, Trained to use music as a medical tool. Rather than simply a nice distraction. They work in a wide selection of settings – hospitals, hospices, mental health units, care homes, specialist schools and community clinics – and their work is predicated on evidence, not instinct. They are experts in using music to enhance health and well-being, relevant as to whether music may cause harm or support wellness, yet research on this field rarely focuses on whether music can sometimes do more harm than good.
In practice, music therapists do remarkable work. They help individuals with dementia communicate and connect when words fail them. They help children with brain injuries develop speech. They help stroke survivors regain physical movement. Music can also be used to assist people work. Complex trauma. These are serious, skillful interventions – not background noise.
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But music may cause real harm, and we do not discuss it enough.
Think of it when music is imposed on those that didn’t ask for it. Premature infants and patients with impaired consciousness are particularly at risk of sensory overload. Blasting music on them is not soothing, it’s stressful.
Residents in care homes are routinely subjected to music they didn’t select, played at times that suit the staff quite than the people living there. Well-intentioned volunteers turn up on hospital wards with guitars and ukuleles, and nobody asks if the patients actually need a performance. Good intentions don’t cancel out bad results.
Doctors and managers in hospitals and care homes are approaching music as an easy, feel-good intervention without asking hard questions on whether it’s appropriate. Music can connect people and produce joy, but it will probably also exclude, irritate, worry and unsatisfy. The very qualities that make it powerful also cause problems when used carelessly.
The rule must be easy: the music should at all times be chosen by the person listening, never imposed on them. It must be thoughtful and of fine quality. Oh Study found That greater than half of the patients within the adult ward couldn’t be told anything on the radio or television. It’s not music as therapy – it’s just noise.
This will not be to say that music mustn’t be utilized in hospitals and care homes. Used well, it will probably reduce pain, lift mood, aid recovery and help people feel less alone. “Good use” means whether the patient really wants the music. It means selecting the fitting music for the fitting person at the fitting time. This means training staff to grasp when music helps and when it doesn’t. And which means being honest that a completely happy playlist is not a neutral act, it’s an intervention. And like several intervention, it will probably go fallacious. It’s about certified music therapists working with music to enhance patients’ health.
Family visitors can create meaningful playlists to accompany the patient, and take heed to music together when other shared activities are difficult. But at all times ask first, and keep in mind that silence could be as priceless as any playlist. As American entertainer Will Rogers said: “Never miss a good opportunity to keep quiet.”