Depression, especially so called bipolar disorder, affects more than 300 million people worldwide.

The music-based interventions are divided into two major categories, namely music therapy and music medicine.

Music therapy is the clinical and evidence-based use of music interventions to accomplish individualized goals within a therapeutic relationship by a credentialed professional.

Music medicine is defined as mainly listening to prerecorded music provided by medical personnel or rarely listening to live music. In other words, music medicine aims to use music like medicines. It is often managed by a medical professional other than a music therapist, and it doesn’t need a therapeutic relationship with the patients. There is some 200 thousand studie on music medicine and German researcher Daniel Leubner shows, that use of classical music is more common by music medicine than by music therapy.

Vera Brandes from Austria says: „Music used by therapy must correspond with its rhytm, tempo, dynamics, development and sequence of tones  correspond with rhytms of body, which take part in the process illness or healing.“ She noticed lack of side effects by music-based interventions. She performed experiment with 203 patients, who listened 30 minutes a day music for 10 – 15 weeks. Afterwards was measured by 89 % of patients improvement of Hamilton Depression Skala by 60 %. Problem was lack of so called control group for comparison.

This problem was solved by Miguel Ángel Mayoral Chávez from Mexican Oaxaca. He had 79 patients with depression, who went through 8 week program. ½ had sessions with psychologist, ½ had instead of psychologist listening of clasical music. Results:

1st group: 12 improvement, 16 no improvement, 10 abandoned.

2nd group:  29 improvement, 4 no improvement, 8 abandoned

 

Probably the most important centre for analysis of music-based therapy is Jyväskylä in Finland. Jaakko Erkkilä has carried out an experiment there with 79 participants with diagnosis of depression. They were randomised to receive individual music therapy plus standard care (20 bi-weekly, 60 minutes sessions) or standard care only, and followed up at baseline, at 3 months (after intervention) and at 6 months. The response rate was significantly greater in music therapy, compared with those who only received standard care.

Olav Skille from Norway invented so called vibroacoustic therapy. It is combination of low-frequency sounds (between 20 and 100 Hz) and music to produce resonance in the body that matches the natural frequency of a specific body part. Marko Punkanen and Esa Ala-Ruona from Finland recommend playing patientś favorite music. They proved that vibrations increase blood flow and resonate muscles to release tension.  On the other hand Hubertus Sandler from Berlin

demonstrated that vibroacoustic therapy was not significantly more effective than just relaxing CD music alone in group of patients with psychosomatic disorders.

Icelandic scientist Gudrun Agusta Sigurdadóttir examined 38 patients in Denmark. Experimental group received eight additional vibration therapy sessions for about a month, and the control group only received standard depression treatment.  Experimental group had a significant decrease in

symptoms compared to the control group, supporting the addition of vibration therapy to traditional

depression treatment.

Other questions has raised research of Max Planck Institut fuer empirische Aesthetik in Germany. Its analysis of data on 30 thousand twins showed, that thos of them, who are active musicians, have higher risk of bipolar disorder. But what does it mean? Interpretations could be contradictory.

They have depressions because of music.

They are musicians, because music heals them.

They are musicians due to advantages of manic phase.

There is some genetic connection between predispositions for musicality and for depressions.

Dutch scientist Laura Wesseldijk has researched data on 5600 twins. She proved higher genetic risks for bipolar disorder were associated with playing music and more hours of music practice. Genetic propensity for general musicality appears to increase the likelihood of receiving a depression diagnosis.

Another interesting question is the tendency of some persons diagnosed with bipolar disorder to prefer sad music. Suvi Saarikallio from Jyväskylä comments this so, that amongst the primary reasons for listening to sad music is improved mood.

Team of Oliver Herdson, Amir-Homayoun Javadi and Tuomas  Eerola researched enjoyment of negative emotions and suggested a typology of sadness consisting of three states and two processes.

 

1. States:

1. A. Surface level sadness – shallower state, lack of real life consequences and personal meaning.

1. B. Empathic sadness – vicariously feeling emotions,   high levels of empathy mean the liking of unfamiliar sad song

1. C. Bleak – hopelesness, lack of things to feel hopefulabout

 

2.Processes:

2. A: Sad mood maintenance – search fot maintenance or increase of sadness.

2. B. Mind-wandering sadness – inward thinking, daydreams

 

   

They stress, that surface level sadness and empathic sadness do not have destructive effect on person with depressions, so it is not necessary to eliminate those types of sadness.

 

 

 

 

                                                                                                                       

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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