Music to play therapeutic role in Mysore hospital

Many a patient in the St Joseph’s Hospital in Mysore will soon have to listen to some soothing music. It’s not for their entertainment value, but for its therapeutic value. The hospital is set to start a Department of Music Therapy.

The department is being launched in association with two experts in the field, consultant neurosurgeon Anil Sangli and certified financial planner and musician S Sripad on June 25.

The duo has been conducting studies on the effects of music on persons suffering from neurological and psychological ailments. The studies have been presented in various neuro-scientific conferences including the recently held eighth Asian Congress of Neurological Surgeons at Malaysia and at Neurocon & CNS 2010, Jaipur.

“The endeavour is to propagate the benefits of music therapy to patients,” said Sangli at a press meet today and added that music is the most energetic, enchanting, lively and melodic form of organised sounds. It embraces the brain and is said to improve brain power. Brain seems have an innate capability for sound, more so when applied to an organised sound, i.e., music.

Sangli, who has been conducting neuromusicology studies, has been treating patients with music therapy and rhythmic wellness walk, a free social-oriented wellness and health concept programme which has been attracting health-conscious walkers of all ages. He has found that music therapy along with drugs helps in faster recovery in patients than when they are on drugs alone.

Speaking to Business Standard, Dr Sangli said perhaps St Joseph’s Hospital is the first hospital to open a music therapy department in Karnataka, although a similar programme had been launched at NIMHANS in Bangalore some two decades ago. He made it clear that the department aims to provide music therapy as an associated treatment and would not train music therapists or offer any course.

Music has been found to help alleviate anxiety, depression and psychological problems. Research was going on all over the world on the positive effects of music reverberations in treating patients. “It benefited neurons to a certain extent,” he said.

The duo is conducting programmes at local music centres explaining the beneficial aspects of music as an additional treatment. They are conducting audio-visual dance and music programmes in association with dancers and musicians. They have administered music therapy to chimpanzees at Mysore zoo, the results of which are yet to come out.

Mysore’s Bishop Thomas A Vazhapilly will inaugurate the department. Senior musician who has a masters in psychology and music Padma Murthy is among those to attend the inauguration where the therapist duo will make a power-point presentation on ‘Therapeutic role of music in the process of recovery’ along with a demo by research scholar S Gayathri, who is studying effects of music and language.

It may be remembered that Ganapathy Sachchidananda Swamiji of Mysore has been propagating the use of music for meditation and healing across the world.

About half a century ago, violinist T Chowdiah had experimented with benefits of music on paddy in his paddy field in T Narasipur, near Mysore, and had come to the conclusion that music helped improve paddy yield. A long way to go!