Music Therapy for Young People: It Works

Evidence is showing that music therapy can address people’s physical, emotional, cognitive, and social needs by either creating, singing, moving to, or listening to music. A study conducted at Queen’s University Belfast has revealed that music therapy can effectively treat depression in children and adolescents dealing with emotional, developmental, and behavioral problems, according to this article in Science Daily.

“This study is significant in terms of determining effective treatments for children and young people with problems and mental health needs, such as depression and anxiety,” Professor Sam Porter, lead researcher from the School of Nursing and Midwifery at Queen’s University, said in a statement.

According to the National Institutes of Mental Health, around 11 percent of adolescents exhibit symptoms of depressive disorder before the age of 18. Current treatment methods include costly antidepressant medications and psychotherapy.

“The findings are dramatic and underscore the need for music therapy to be made available as a mainstream treatment option,” Reilly added. “For a long time we have relied on anecdotal evidence and small-scale research findings about how well music therapy works. Now we have robust clinical evidence to show its beneficial effects.”

 

Adam Wahlberg


Founder of Think Piece Publishing

Comments

comments