The rhythmic sounds and sensations of drumming can be healing for patients with breast cancer.
Melissa Mills, BSN, RN, CCM, MHA
Melissa Mills, BSN, RN, CCM, MHA
You have been working with Mrs Smith for the past month. With each passing day, you notice that she appears more depressed, angry, and anxious. She doesn't chat like she did when she started her treatments for breast cancer. She rarely maintains eye contact. She is quiet and sullen.
Your mind starts wandering over ways to help her that go beyond the bag of chemo you give each week. At the next few appointments, you notice that she is never without her earbuds and music. As she sits in the chair, eyes closed, she quietly drums her fingers to a beat you can't hear. Could this be the way to help Mrs Smith? You have read a few stories about drumming as a means of helping patients with breast cancer deal with emotional side effects. But does it work?
DRUMMING AS MUSIC THERAPY
Life is set to a rhythm. The first sound heard by every child is the beat of their mother's heart. It is no surprise, then, that the beat of a drum can bring peace, calm, and even transcendence to a hurting soul.
According to the American Music Therapy Association, music therapy combines the clinical and evidence-based use of music interventions to help patients reach specific goals.1 It addresses physical, emotional, cognitive, and social needs. Patients work with a music therapist to create, sing, move to, and/or listen to music.
Drumming can be used as a type of music therapy. In a 2017 interview with Medscape, Theodore Zanto, PhD, a top music therapy researcher, states that the rhythmic sounds of music and drumming can be healing.2 Similar to meditation, drumming produces positive mental health effects in patients. The brain is also rhythmic, so during drumming, the brain is interpreting every sound wave created. Drumming creates both a sound and a physical effect on the body. This creates a good environment for meditation and relaxation to take place.
WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF DRUMMING?
There is limited research on the effects of drumming on patients with breast cancer. What we do know is that music can be healing. One encouraging study looked at the effects of group drumming on anxiety, depression, social resilience, and inflammatory immune response among mental health patients.3 It found that levels of anxiety and depression decreased in patients who participated in group drumming for 10 weeks compared with those in a control group.3 Drumming produces plenty of other health benefits, as well. This form of music therapy:
Drumming is still a relatively new complementary therapy in the United States, but it has been used for centuries in other countries. If you have a patient with breast cancer who might benefit from drumming or another kind of music therapy, talk with your supervisor about opportunities in your facility or community. You can also search for classes and music therapists online at the American Music Therapy Association's website.
Melissa Mills, BSN, RN, CCM, MHA is a freelance healthcare writer and the owner of MakingSpace.company. She has been a registered nurse for 20 years and is passionate about case management, nursing leadership, and finding the right care for patients in every setting.
REFERENCES
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