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The Effects of Music Therapy on Mentally Handicapped

Uploaded by bdogg on Apr 25, 2007

The Effects of Music Therapy on Mentally Handicapped

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 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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Uploaded by:   bdogg

Date:   04/25/2007

Category:   Psychology

Length:   10 pages (2,207 words)

Views:   3439

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