Carnatic vocalists in the city feel music is being under utilized for therapeutic purposes
Bangalore, April 9, 2018: More collaboration between artists and doctors can help music therapy become a part of treatment for people with neurological disorders using music therapy. Yet, it will take a lot of awareness amongst the populace to incorporate it with the conventional treatment methods.
Nandakumar Unnikrishnan, a city based Carnatic vocalist said, “There are many Ragas in classical music and they all have an effect on the human mind. Some can be used to cool down a person who is too agitated with something, some can be used to inspire a person who is otherwise feeling depressed. Similarly music can also be used to treat patients who are suffering from various mental disorders. But relatives of patients do not consider music therapy as “serious treatment” which is sad because we have a few success stories in the therapeutic approach of music.”
Deepa Narayan, a music therapist at Tamahar which is an NGO working with differently abled children said, “We use music therapy in our organisation to work with the children here. Various Ragas are prescribed to the children based on their requirements. We have successfully been able to help the speech impaired children using music therapy because some of the children are now able to say “Om”. We have not yet worked with dyslexic patients but we are working with children suffering from Cerebral Palsy, Autism and Down Syndrome.”
According to a Deccan Chronicle article change to Reports say and link that, Deepti Navaratna, the regional director of the Indira Gandhi National Centre for Arts has decided to collaborate with doctors in the city to treat patients suffering from neurological disorders like dyslexia and autism.
Soumya Vishnu, a parent of one of the students at Tamahar said, “My son suffers from Cerebral Palsy and we really did not expect him to be able to speak or focus his attention on one thing, but music therapy has really helped him develop the ability to speak a few words.”
Nidhi Raghuram, a Carnatic vocalist said, “I am not sure if music therapy can completely replace the conventional medical treatment given to differently abled children but I feel that a combination of both should do wonders”.
