Sound of Rehabilitation Approximately 250,000 people die annually due to an illicit drug overdose. Drug addiction is interfering with the lives of citizens and degrading nations by draining taxpayers’ dollars due to lost productivity at work, health care, and crime. While laws prohibiting drug use exist in many countries, and rehabilitation centers offer assistance to those in need of aid—it is not enough because nearly 200 million people abuse drugs worldwide. Furthermore, 90% of addicts who accept the assistance of rehabilitation centers will suffer at least one relapse within a 4-year time period (“Relapse and Craving-Alcohol Alert No. 06-1989.”). Meanwhile, within the past ten years, studies regarding music show evidence suggesting music
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When the government’s financial situation becomes strained, fine arts are one of the first programs to be cut because their benefits are overlooked when compared to the advantages of science or math classes. However, the benefits of music include: increased intelligence, improved communication skills, an augmented immune system, and a boosted state of mind, along with several other benefits (“Music Therapy in Addiction Recovery”). Critics also believe music possesses the potential to negatively affect patients by forcing them to think about adverse thoughts, or bringing up painful memories, but negative side effects are avoidable when working with a professional music therapist. Music also displays signs of effectively helping people addicted to drugs become clean as the effects of music mimic the effects of illicit drugs on the …show more content…
Some frequently abused drugs include marijuana, heroin, and cocaine. Marijuana possesses potent relaxing properties, but is accompanied by numerous negative side effects such as slowed thinking and reaction time, impaired memory and balance, and increased paranoia and anxiety. Yet music possesses relaxing and meditative properties without the negative side effects marijuana yields. Opioids such as heroin cause feelings of euphoria followed by periods of drowsiness. Euphoria is caused by the release of dopamine, and Salimpoor’s study discovered dopamine can be released when listening to music if the listener experiences chills—typically from instrumental music and during the climax of the song. Slower, ethereal music can also evoke feelings of drowsiness, along with the sounds of nature such as wind blowing through the leaves or rain splashing on the roof of a house. Stimulants like cocaine cause people to feel more alert and energetic, but are followed by an increase in heart rate and blood pressure, paranoia, panic attacks, aggression, and more. Listening to fast, up-beat music causes an increase in concentration levels permitting someone to feel more alert, without any negative side effects (“Prescription and Illicit Drug
When the government’s financial situation becomes strained, fine arts are one of the first programs to be cut because their benefits are overlooked when compared to the advantages of science or math classes. However, the benefits of music include: increased intelligence, improved communication skills, an augmented immune system, and a boosted state of mind, along with several other benefits (“Music Therapy in Addiction Recovery”). Critics also believe music possesses the potential to negatively affect patients by forcing them to think about adverse thoughts, or bringing up painful memories, but negative side effects are avoidable when working with a professional music therapist. Music also displays signs of effectively helping people addicted to drugs become clean as the effects of music mimic the effects of illicit drugs on the …show more content…
Some frequently abused drugs include marijuana, heroin, and cocaine. Marijuana possesses potent relaxing properties, but is accompanied by numerous negative side effects such as slowed thinking and reaction time, impaired memory and balance, and increased paranoia and anxiety. Yet music possesses relaxing and meditative properties without the negative side effects marijuana yields. Opioids such as heroin cause feelings of euphoria followed by periods of drowsiness. Euphoria is caused by the release of dopamine, and Salimpoor’s study discovered dopamine can be released when listening to music if the listener experiences chills—typically from instrumental music and during the climax of the song. Slower, ethereal music can also evoke feelings of drowsiness, along with the sounds of nature such as wind blowing through the leaves or rain splashing on the roof of a house. Stimulants like cocaine cause people to feel more alert and energetic, but are followed by an increase in heart rate and blood pressure, paranoia, panic attacks, aggression, and more. Listening to fast, up-beat music causes an increase in concentration levels permitting someone to feel more alert, without any negative side effects (“Prescription and Illicit Drug