The Healthy Brain

Music Therapy

So, I am always looking for ways to help ease the discomfort on this journey that we are on. Alzheimer’s or Dementia can cause so many different symptoms and for us at the moment mum is suffering from headaches, pain and lastly anxiety. It is hard to deal with both her and us because we are relying on her to tell us what is wrong but sometimes diagnosing a person who cannot tell you what is causing their pain can be difficult if not impossible. They may not even know to express they are in pain. They may be uncomfortable and don’t know why. In my own experience with mums pain management I find asking what hurts or where she is hurting often frustrates her more than anything, by the time I think i have worked out what is going on things have escalated. She is agitated and doesn’t make much sense, and I get it, she is in a lot of pain. But who the !,#*. Knows why.

This is about the time I resort to some paracetamol or something along those lines and distraction.

Cue the music, my mum actually adores an artist, a singer named Yiannis Parios. She has so all her life. I remember as a child having to listen to him in the car on drives, he was always playing in the background. My mum often telling me that if she had not married my dad she would of married him, such was the devotion. In the present day I am often amazed that I can play his songs and no matter what is going on with her she will sing along with out missing a beat. She sometimes cannot recognize her own house or her dog but when it comes to Yiannis Parios she can remember lyrics and songs, is this muscle memory or what??

I love that for her, I love that she has a place in her mind that she can go to, something that gives her so much joy. I will play it for her when she is frustrated because she cant tell me what is wrong the times she tells me to stop asking her questions because she doesn’t know how answer them. And it stops her in her tracks. I will play it for her when she is sad, the times when she feels alone because the people she grew up with are gone and she doesn’t remember their funeral or saying good bye. The times she will ask me “how long has my mum been gone or when did your dad die”? The lyrics to one of Yiannis’ many songs that reminds me of my dad is Pio Kali I monaxia but sadly it also reminds me of my mum in her present state. Lyrics here very roughly translated from Greek to English. But the gist of the lyrics are. One minute I see you and the next I cant, you are slowly disappearing and perhaps being with out you is less painful then constantly losing you. Because that is the pain of dementia for the loved ones around you, I am sure it is a pain you as a sufferer of dementia feel as well. One minute you are aware and here and the next you are gone

Music as a therapy mhhhm. I mean it soothes my mother so I know it helps but is it official? Well after doing a little bit of research I found it is a thing….

Research has shown that music therapy can improve memory, attention and cognitive function. It can help:

• Increase core executive functions: self-awareness, inhibition, non-verbal and verbal working memory, emotional self-regulation, self-motivation, planning and problem solving
• Increase memory and attention.
• It activates all parts of the brain, I mean music is bloody amazing and it makes you feel damn good. So listen away.

When we refer to music therapy it is not just listening to music for enjoyment although I am sure that helps too. Music therapy using a therapist may mean you immerse yourself in the music. It involves the therapist playing or signing the music or it may be that the patient is involved in writing or responding to the music using their fingers.

There are many ways to use music as therapy and I have placed a few links to the music therapy, so that you can do a little research of your own and maybe take it a little further than I have. But in any case for us at the moment the extent of our ,music therapy is listening to old songs that help soothe mums anxiety and put a smile on her beautiful face.

It gives her a little confidences and some pleasure that is a win for me.

Happy listening and see you back here soon