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Music Therapy Vs. Depression Medication

A diagnosis of depression by a physician comes with many treatment options. Two of those options are music therapy and depression medication. When choosing treatment options for depression, it is good to be informed. Communicate with your physician about options, side effects, potential problems and benefits of treatment options such as music therapy and depression medication. Your physician will likely monitor what progress you are making in alleviating depression symptoms.

  1. About

    • The first step in choosing a treatment program for depression is understanding your options. According to the American Music Therapy Association (AMTA), music therapy is the clinical use of music in health care and educational settings to promote the wellness and health of patients and decrease their overall stress. Music therapists use standardized, clinical inventories to establish the needs of their patients. They use group therapy, individual music exercises with a variety of different instruments and techniques like writing lyrics, performing music and musical improvisation as forms of therapy.

      Depression medications come in a variety of forms and are used to treat the chemical imbalances in the brain that contribute to depression. Depression medications are prescribed by physicians for depression, because they allow important neurotransmitters that control mood, like serotonin, to do their jobs more effectively. Examples of depression medications include selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) like fluoxetine (Prozac) and paroxetine (Paxil).

    Pros and Cons

    • Weigh the pros and cons of these treatment methods in consultation with your physician. Music therapy might not be effective for everyone and may be more effective in some people with depression. Depression medication, on the other hand, may have serious side effects. Playing and listening to music in a therapeutic setting would be very unlikely to cause any harm to anyone involved. Depression medication can have side effects like suicidal thinking and may be especially harmful to children, according to the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH). On the other hand, depression medication can be very effective for use in children and adults, used alone or in tandem with other therapy methods.

    Choosing Treatments

    • The NIMH advises patients to choose treatment methods carefully, especially regarding depression in children. Music therapy, psychological counseling and other methods like family therapy might be a good idea, alone or together, for cases that are not severe. If depression medication is chosen as a treatment option, check with your physician about whether or not medications are approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for use in the treatment of depression in children. According to the NIMH, less is known about the treatment of depression in children than is known about depression treatment for adults. Follow up regularly with your physician and music therapists. Your physician and music therapist should also be communicating with one another.

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