Music therapy for depression

Abstract

Findings of the present meta-analysis indicate that music therapy provides short-term beneficial effects for people with depression. Music therapy added to treatment as usual (TAU) seems to improve depressive symptoms compared with TAU alone. Additionally, music therapy plus TAU is not associated with more or fewer adverse events than TAU alone. Music therapy also shows efficacy in decreasing anxiety levels and improving functioning of depressed individuals.Future trials based on adequate design and larger samples of children and adolescents are needed to consolidate our findings. Researchers should consider investigating mechanisms of music therapy for depression. It is important to clearly describe music therapy, TAU, the comparator condition, and the profession of the person who delivers the intervention, for reproducibility and comparison purposes.

Arts-based groups in mental health recovery

“…When considering these results in terms of their clinical significance, around 38.2% -64.7% of the participants experienced a meaningful improvement in mental wellbeing, whereas only 0% -11.8% of the participants experienced a meaningful decline. These findings are consistent with a broader range of studies which have found growing support for music and arts interventions improving mental health and wellbeing in participants with mental health conditions (Aalbers et al, 2017;Geretsegger et al, 2017;Stickley, Wright & Slade, 2018;Van Lith, Schofield, & Fenner, 2013). However, to our knowledge there is no other research which explicitly evaluates the impact of partaking in creative writing groups on the mental wellbeing of people with mental health conditions.…”

“…In clinical mental health settings, the therapeutic use of music has typically been undertaken as music therapy, defined as "the clinical and evidence-based use of music interventions to accomplish individualised goals within a therapeutic relationship by a credentialed professional who has completed an approved music therapy program" (American Music Therapy Association, 2018). Recent reviews indicate that music therapy can enhance treatment outcomes of people with depression (Aalbers et al, 2017), schizophrenia (Geretsegger et al, 2017), and severe mental health conditions (Gold, Solli, Krüger, & Lie, 2009). However, increasingly music activities, such as choirs, are being used to engage people experiencing mental health conditions in non-clinical contexts with musicians who are not necessarily trained in music therapy (McNaughton, White & Stacy, 2005).…”

“…The following chapter represents a systematic review of the effects of group singing on mental health and wellbeing for adults with mental health conditions. There have been reviews on similar arts-based interventions for people with mental health conditions, for example, music therapy, arts-based programs, and writing-based therapies (Aalbers et al, 2017;Geretsegger et al, 2017;Gillam, 2018;Gold, Solli, Krüger, & Lie, 2009;Stickley et al, 2018;Van Lith et al, 2013).…”

“…Arts-based interventions for mental health have been attracting increasing interest by policy makers (APPGAHW, 2017), however, it is unclear if group singing is a suitable intervention for people with mental health conditions, or if there are contraindications to participating in music interventions (Aalbers et al, 2017;Geretsegger et al, 2017). There is a growing number of studies examining community choirs for adults with mental health conditions (Clift et al, 2017;Dingle, Brander, Ballantyne & Baker, 2013;Grocke et al, 2014).…”

“…Thus far, there have been no systematic reviews specifically on the therapeutic impacts of group singing specifically for mental health conditions. Recent reviews on music therapy, indicate that when music therapy is added to the treatment of depression and schizophrenia, people can experience greater symptom improvement (Aalbers et al, 2017;Geretsegger et al, 2017), however, it is yet to be established if community group singing can have similar outcomes.…”