Abstract
Despite some reservations and limitations, music is demonstrated to be potentially beneficial in medical context. It has been shown to directly enhance mood, bolster immunity, motivate people, reawaken pleasant memories or distract from unpleasant realities. Moreover, music can contribute to health and well-being by offering alternative/complementary, non-verbal channels of communication. Since verbal skills are most frequently used to assess mental competence—for example, in assigning children to special homes and/or older people to certain geriatric wards, there is a risk that people who are musically competent are submerged in what, for them, is an impoverished or unfamiliar environment. The implementation of music in the treatment of various groups of individuals seems particularly beneficial in our current culture which too frequently is characterised by stimulus overload.
Note: This is a revised version of a lecture at the Museum of London on 4/10/11, delivered as part of a series on Psychology of Performing Arts by Dr Wilson in his capacity as Visiting Professor with Gresham College.
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Wilson, G.D. (2018). Soothing the Savage Breast: Therapeutic Applications of Music. In: Kirkcaldy, B. (eds) Psychotherapy, Literature and the Visual and Performing Arts. Palgrave Studies in Creativity and Culture. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-75423-9_11
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