Music Therapy and Mental Illness in the Bible

Photo credit Dennis Jarvis 2016

Many of us have noticed the biblical connection between music and symptom relief in the story of David and King Saul of ancient Israel.

More than some 2,000 years ago, David, the man credited with writing many psalms played a lyre for his king (See 1 Samuel 16). Apparently, the people had observed the connection between music and relief because they offered to find a musician for Saul. David was called into service based on his reputation. When he played the lyre or harp, Saul experienced relief from his torment attributed to an evil spirit from God.

Although some Christians view Saul's distress as caused by a literal supernatural being, others view the story as an ancient way of understanding mental illness. Obviously, it's speculative to make a diagnosis on limited descriptions from thousands of years ago. It's tempting to view Saul's distress as a cyclical mood disorder. Regardless of Saul's biopsychological condition, the value of music to alleviate moods is not speculative.

A review of research supports the effectiveness of music therapy for both depression and anxiety (Aalbers et al., 2017).

"Findings of the present meta‐analysis indicate that music therapy provides short‐term beneficial effects for people with depression. Music therapy added to treatment as usual (TAU) seems to improve depressive symptoms compared with TAU alone. Additionally, music therapy plus TAU is not associated with more or fewer adverse events than TAU alone. Music therapy also shows efficacy in decreasing anxiety levels and improving functioning of depressed individuals."

Reference

Aalbers S, Fusar‐Poli L, Freeman RE, Spreen M, Ket JCF, Vink AC, Maratos A, Crawford M, Chen XJ, Gold C. (2017). Music therapy for depression. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, 11, CD004517. DOI: 10.1002/14651858.CD004517.pub3. Accessed 18 February 2023.

Geoffrey W. Sutton, PhD is Emeritus Professor of Psychology. He retired from a clinical practice and was credentialed in clinical neuropsychology and psychopharmacology. His website is www.suttong.com

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