MUSIC TO IMPROVE HEALTH
Specific Purpose: To persuade my audience to start listening to music to improve their health.
Central Idea: Regular listening can improve both your mental and physical health
Method of Organization: Monroe’s motivated sequence
Introduction:
Music has an amazing ability to captivate and entertain millions of people, change their mood and reintroduce specific memories. Not all of us really realize why music has this profound affect on our lives and can really move you in a momentous way. Today, I am going to explain the main aspects of music’s therapeutical influence on mental health and illness, and the benefits we can take from it.
BODY:
Need:
1. Music therapy is overlooked as a legitimate treatment for mental illness and mental health management. Just about everyone has experienced feelings of stress, depression or anxiety at some point in their lives. Some of us suffer from legitimate mental illnesses.
(trans) …in times like today, people are in need of better coping methods or therapy, that do not involve expensive & potentially harmful drugs or prescriptions…
..that being said…
A. Americans are stressed. Now-a-days, American’s stress levels are historically high.
1. In a survey called “Stress in America: The State of Our Nation,” by the American Psychological Association, the nationwide stress levels averaged, 4.8 out of 10, which doesn’t seem high, but is actually historically high. This report included a diverse group of nearly 3,500 adults over the age of 18, all of which reside in the United States.
…things like…
2. Being a student, worker or parent in todays age of anxiety, comes with inevitable stress that can interrupt your ability to learn or focus.
B. Americans are also the most depressed they have ever been, making it one of the most common mental illnesses in America.
1. According to a report from the National Center for Health Statistics the most recent data available showed that from 2011 through 2014, 13% of American’s, age’s 12 and up, had taken anti-depressants in the last month. This number is up 11% from 2008 and 65% from 2001.
2. A 2018 study by the Gallup-Sharecare Well-Being Index found that for the first time on record, there was not one single state in the US that showed improvement in its residents’ overall levels of well-being.
a. That same year, that group recorded depression levels in America and found that depression levels were also the highest the group has ever recorded.
b. 1 in 5 or 18% of those people reported being diagnosed with depression at some point in their lives. They believe that this is why well-being levels were record low.
C. Anxiety in America is also spiking
1. As of December of 2017, the Anxiety and Depression Association of America recorded that approximately 18% of the population, have an anxiety disorder. That’s about 40 million people.
2. Another survey made by American Psychiatric Association discovered that 39% of Americans today feel more anxious now than they did, just a year ago.
…so with all of these issues, how do we fix them in an effective natural way without being prescribed drugs in this time of crisis, this is where music comes into play…
SATISFACTION:
1. Music’s therapeutic abilities need to be used to manage mental heath and treat certain mental illnesses
A. Through music therapy, stress can be completely eradicated.
1. Students who are under stress and pressure don’t even have to leave their room to experience the benefits of music therapy. Music’s ability to lower your heart rate and blood pressure can immediately reduce your stress within the first few minutes of listening
2. There is also link between music and stress. It has recently been discovered that music has an ability to soothe pediatric emergency patients, or patients about to go under surgery
B. Music helps treat depression and anxiety
1. In a 2011 study put out by the British Journal of Psychiatrists, researchers studied 79 patients with depression. 46 patients were randomly elected to receive standard treatment, while the other 33 other patients were chosen to receive standard treatment with the addition of 20 bi-weekly music therapy sessions.
a. The results of the study showed that participants who received the music therapy showed compelling improvement in depressive symptoms over those who were just receiving standard care.
2. Music can also help cure anxiety disorders, its been proven to be more effective than prescription drugs in anxiety reduction. A university of Michigan study found that music has positive effects on mood changes, enhances your coping skills, relaxation skills, communication skills and conflict solving skills.
…in addition, it can also boost your immune system function and reaction
C. Music Therapy can help reduce the symptoms of mental illnesses like Schizophrenia and treat other illnesses like Alzheimers or Dementia
1. A study put out in 2006 issued by the British Journal of Psychiatry found that the addition of music therapy to standard treatment for those with schizophrenia showed that it provided additional benefit over standard therapy by itself.
a. After 90 minute 12 week sessions, the study found that music therapy was associated with short to medium term reductions in general and negative symptoms of schizophrenia.
b. Another study in Korea conducted a very similar study and the results were nearly identical
c. All of this research also showed improvement in general function.
2. Music also can evoke emotions and bring back memories, which can help those with Alzheimer’s or Dementia. Various studies have shown that those with Alzheimer’s can remember and sing songs, even in advanced stages.
a. research in Finland has found that simply listening to music activates large-scale neural networks and recruits part of the brain responsible for motor control. Limbic areas of the brain also get involved, this system if responsible for
…so what would our future look like if we adopted the various methods of music therapy…
VISUALIZATION:
D. The future of mental health treatment is music therapy, though not only in America, but the entire world. If we ignore it, or fail to consider it, the world of physical and mental health treatment could remain bleak and seize to advance
1. With music therapy, the state of world will improve. Music therapy will improve people’s mental state and improve the function of patients lives.
2. Those with mental illnesses such as Schizophrenia will be able to improve their global state, negative symptoms, depression, anxiety and social function with music therapy.
3. With psychiatric disorders like depression & anxiety, music as a therapeutic format will bring those who feel a lack in their sense of self, physical well-being and quality of life to a level readiness for change.
a. Music therapy can be really effective on those who feel depressed from life-threatening illnesses like cancer.
4. Studying and exploring the different mechanisms of music can help us find new ways of using different forms of expression in music and how each form may assist in the treatment of a certain illnesses
ACTION STEP: …so i call to you…
A. Look into music as a therapeutic format for you or for anyone you know struggling with mental health management or a mental illness.
B. Music therapy is overlooked but is a legitimate treatment for mental illness and mental health management. We’ve all felt feelings of stress, depression or anxiety at some point in our lives. For those who suffer from legitimate mental illnesses, this is definitely for you to.
CLOSING STATEMENT:
A. Music has serious therapeutic abilities, don’t just ignore it. If you’ve been looking for help or have been suffering, plug in your headphones or turn up the radio, relief is at the tip of your fingers.