THE HEALING POWER OF IPODS

IPODS, A NEW INEXPENSIVE MEDICAL TREATMENT

 

People appreciated music for centuries.  Yet we doctors rarely prescribe it in therapy.  Music defies a prescription pad because it depends on the total effect, has numerous strengths, lasts a long time, and alters our moods.  Our culture has an attitude toward music that can’t be evaluated scientifically.

MOOD MUSIC IS HEALING

We have found music valuable for emotional and physical illnesses.  David in the Old Testament played the harp to help Saul from his depression.  Apollo, the Greek god of music and medicine, recommended music for good health.  So did Plato and Aristotle.  Music was played during the black plague to resist disease.  

We have mood music for marriages, funerals, going to war, sitting in a doctor’s office, and of course for making love.

Most of us today don’t have the time to learn a musical instrument or join a singing group.  Going to rock concerts or listening to our I pods also help us relax.  A withdrawn person can participate in this nonverbal communication media and relax.

CHOOSE YOUR THERAPY

Our brains can affect our emotions.  Where is the PDR to guide us on the choice of music for our aliments?  What do you play for a broken heart? Is it Pavarotti, or John Denver, or the Beetles?  Should it be loud or mellow?  Do you want a rhythm of excitement, suspense, or fear?

Not being able to keep exact timing in music is a reflection on the health of the cerebellum, basal ganglia, and the hypothalamus.  People in nursing homes who tap their feet during a musical performance display a control of their movements and are livelier. 

Changes in our choices of music often mirror social changes and  shortened concentration requirement.  The young often have short concentration spans but this is not so in mature adults. 

ROLE OF CLASSICAL MUSIC

Classical music is longer and more complex except in opera and songs.  It draws older more educated persons.  Today the teenagers identify classical music with snobbery.  Yet in older times. It was considered a favorite of Bohemian revolutionaries.

One could say the classical compositions depict the emotional stages of life, starting with early expectations of young people leaving home and going out into the world, in the first movement.  The second movement involves the struggles, depression and disappointments.  In the third movement there is excitement and joy as trials are overcome. Finally, in the fourth movement an emotional balance is achieved.

I Pods have reintroduced to the masses a variety of music that can be downloaded to their pods.  Perhaps this is the perfect treatment that we doctors have failed to prescribe.

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