Study Shows Group Drumming Reduces Anxiety & Depression in Mental Health Patients

Effects of Group Drumming Interventions on Anxiety, Depression, Social Resilience and Inflammatory Immune Response among Mental Health Service Users

A study by the Royal College of Music in London has found that a 10-week program of group drumming reduces depression by as much as 38% and anxiety by 20%.

Summary:

In conclusion, this study demonstrates that group drumming can reduce depression and anxiety and improve social resilience in mental health service users over a 6- and 10-week spans. Changes in psychological profiles were found in parallel with reductions in inflammatory response and a shift towards an anti-inflammatory immune profile, in keeping with other successful mental health interventions. The study also demonstrated a longitudinal impact of drumming, both opening new avenues for research and highlighting the practicality and potentially cost-effectiveness of community drumming interventions for mental health patients. Overall, this suggests the therapeutic potential of group drumming interventions with implications for other music-based psycho-social interventions to be explored in future research. Further work will be needed to reveal a more complete picture of the viability of group drumming in clinical practice and ascertain more about the underlying mechanisms.

Unlock the Rhythm to Wellbeing: Read More About the Surprising Power of Group Drumming Therapy (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4790847/)