Rebecca Verduzco
Fall 2017
Music 9
Music therapy’s effects on levels of depression, anxiety, and social isolation in Mexican farmworkers living in the United States: A randomized controlled trial
Melody Schwantes, Cathy McKinney, and Niels Hannibal
Depression and anxiety disorders are different but individuals suffering from depression can often experience symptoms similar to those of an anxiety disorder. Furthermore, anxiety disorders are often linked to depression and it is important that both these conditions are treated simultaneously. Evidence is beginning to emerge that music therapy can improve the mental health of individuals with depression and anxiety. Music therapy combined with other treatments can be effective. The article
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This study demonstrated that there is a possibility of using music therapy as a method for easing symptoms of depression which can be caused by stressors such as separation of family, work demands, housing issues, income, language and isolation in an individual. The author is speaking to individuals who are farmworkers and professionals who aid individuals with depression and anxiety. The first steps are for these individuals to acknowledge these conditions. The purpose the author wrote this study was to research music therapy and its effects on anxiety and depression. The thesis of this paper is that music therapy has the possibility to ease symptoms of depression and anxiety. The research suggests that depression has been documented in migrant farmworkers. Numbers show that twenty five percent of these migrant workers suffer from some form of mental illness. Stressors can include separation of family, work demands, housing issues, income, language isolation. Social support was found to affect cognitive anxiety, affective anxiety, and physiological anxiety and it affects those with higher level of education. With this being said, the lack of social support may lead to drinking problems and or other issues. In this research, the authors show some recommendations and these recommendations are to establish trust and rapport with the farmworkers community prior to engaging assets and services, provide services that have been developed with farmworker input in their communities rather than in mental health facilities and social support groups recommended as a preventative