MUSI 599

Graduate Research and Writing Seminar

Andrea Arevalo
10/16/19

Music Therapy and Stress Reduction Research

Journal of Music Therapy
Suzanne b. Hanser
University pf the Pacific

Anxiety and stress on human behavior is recognized in all the world. Stress is considering

responsible for many physical and psychological problems Excess stress contributes to the

development of physical ailments for example hypertension, ulcers, skin desorders, headaches

and other life-threatening diseases. The role of music in palliative and instrumental modes of

coping is explored. Experts estimate that up to 75% of all medical disorders such as asthma and

other directly attributable to stress. Recent research has also identified specific effects of stress,

including changes in lymphocyte levels, a strong risk factor for cáncer, immunoreactivity, sodium

and fuid retention that affect hypertension and obesity.

Psychosomatic symptomatology and psychopathology have been considered the products of the

interaction of psychological stress, vulnerability to stress, and the use of certain psychological

defense systems. In the United States, there’s The alarming suicide rate and high incidences of

depression have also been correlated with stressful life events.

Stress and anxiety have been assessed through physiological measurements, anxiety inventories

or psychological tests, behavioral observations, and interviews. Anxiety is defined in much of

the literature through observed changes in the sympathetic and autonomic nervous systems.

Some of the most common physiological changes are relatively simple to observe: heart or pulse

rate, systolic and/ or diastolic blood pressure, galvanic skin response (GSR) and peripheral skin

temperature measures, electromyography (EMG), and electroencephalography (EEG).

Strategies for coping with stress have been developed and applied by both the individual

undergoing stress and by the mental health practitioner to whom this person may be referred.

Coping models may be subsumed into two major categories: instrumental and palliative. The

instrumental model implies direct action in an attempt to change the troubled transaction.

Music therapy can facilitate changes in emotion, notably through relaxation; it also has the

capacity to assist in instrumental strategies. Using the music setting as a model for the

environment in which stress-evoking interactions and events may occur, problems may be

identified and solved within the confines of the therapy session.

Early efforts to measure physiological effects of music were fraught with methodological

difficulties. The increased sophistication of available instruments and equipment has made

quantification more feasible and reliable; however, inconsistencies in results still make

interpretation difficult. Given the variety of musical selections, experimental procedures, and

recording methodologies to examine a given research question, comparing the results of any

two studies may not be valid.

Researching the effects of music therapy on stress reduction will require the development of

specific programs, examination of their major effects, and the testing of single facets of any one

music therapy program. In this way, the scientific validation of music and music therapy will

contribute to an understanding and amelioration of the problems associated with stress.