Browsing by Subject "geriatric depression"

Depression is the most prevalent psychiatric disorder amongst seniors in Finland, with about 5% experiencing major depression at any one time. As the population of Finland is slowly growing older, a large proportion of the nation are in late adulthood or retirement and more effort should be put towards the widespread issues which come with old age. Most cases of geriatric depression are treated with either psychosocial interventions or antidepressant treatments, neither of which guarantee definitive success in eliminating symptoms altogether. Antidepressants especially often come with unwanted side-effects, conflict with other medications and are expensive in long-term treatment. Listening to music could be administered as a standalone treatment or within music therapy as a cost-effective, non-invasive and non-pharmacological treatment for elderly depression. Music acts as a powerful stimulant by altering neural activation in many functional brain areas associated with audition, emotions, memory, and movement. Listening to music has been found to alleviate symptoms of depression by encouraging emotional expression, processing of feelings and by altering negative mental states. The purpose of this review was to explore previous research in order to conclusively draw together findings in the effects of music listening on late-life depression. Google Scholar and PubMed -databases were thoroughly enquired to find the latest meta-analyses, systematic reviews, randomized controlled trials and other information relevant to the subject. Altogether three of the most recent meta-analyses were included, as well as an additional three systematic reviews and three RCTs published outside of these. Drawing together findings from various sources, it is evident that music listening has complex beneficial effects and is an effective method in reducing depressive symptoms in older adults. Music listening can be implemented as a therapeutic tool in stand-alone treatment, as part of an intervention or within a music therapy framework.