'Music As Therapy' - Medical info with humor

..By wisequack                                                           While rotating through assorted subspecialties as a medical student, I spent two-months on a geriatric psychiatry ward, a sobering glimpse of my own destiny. Occasionally I would wander into the inpatient’s lounge and tickle the ivories. I am not a great pianist, but given that my audience was seriously medicated and their hearing aids squealed like fire alarms, to them I was Liberace in a labcoat. “Play something from our era, lad” they’d yell, prompting me to delve into my Stones repertoire. They rocked in their rocking chairs, they rolled in their hair rollers. They stomped their canes, twirled their beards, made rude noises and waved their pipes high in the air. Men enjoyed it too. In fact, without realizing it, we were all enjoying an informal session of music therapy.                                                                                                                                                                                                 Music therapy is the skillful use of music to improve the lives of those with cognitive, emotional and even physical needs. Music therapists bop and groove their way through an entire university degree in order to learn how to harness music’s healing powers. They are then hired by families or hospitals and asked to provide good “sound” advice in fields of medicine ranging from palliative care, obstetrics, mental health, geriatric care, substance abuse, autism, oncology, brain injuries and speech impediments...Continue reading...