Ravikanti, who holds a doctorate in Carnatic music andoffers music as therapy to various patients at a corporatehospital here, decided to chip in to support the ongoingbattle against the deadly virus and is extending her servicesto healthcare personnel and others.
"I have already reached out to several doctors and otherprofessionals during the lockdown with my music sessionshelping them to cope with stress," she told here.
A Post Graduate Diploma holder in Medical Music Therapyfrom Chennai School of Music Therapy, she offers her servicesthrough "Swarajeevani", an institute set up by her.
Though she charges her patients, now she is offering herservices free of cost to doctors and others involved in thebattle against COVID-19, she said. "Music is a unique human phenomenon. It is the onlysensory experience that can activate all the areas of thebrain at the same time, simultaneously. That is the reason whymusic can influence psychological phenomena such as behaviorand emotions," she said. It can also bring about several physiological changes inthe body. Music would act as a stress buster.
"So I thought, as a responsible and concerned citizen, Iwould do a bit that I can, the vocalist said adding she hadconducted sessions through phone for doctors from differentparts of the country. Dr.G.Ravindra, Professor and Head of the Department, CTsurgery at the government Gandhi Hospital here, a designatedCOVID-19 facility, is among those who underwent a session fromRavikanti.
The doctor said he felt relaxed and stress free after thesession, enabling him to sleep peacefully throughout thenight. I thank the Swarajeevani management for their compassionand love for all frontliners treating COVID-19 patients, hesaid. The World Federation of Music Therapy, which aims topromote the therapy throughout the globe, says that auditorysensation can be used as an intervention in medical,educational, and everyday environments with individuals,groups, families, or communities who seek to optimise theirquality of life, among other developments.
Music therapy was an interpersonal process in which thetherapist uses music and all of its facets- physical,emotional, mental, social, aesthetic and spiritual to helpclients to improve or maintain their health, she added.
Dr J Srikanth, Head of Internal Medicine at ApolloHospitals, Jubilee Hills, said there was evidence that musicas a therapy yielded positive results. However, unlike in the West, there was not much awarenessin the country on the subject, he said. If you listen to good music or a song the changes thatoccur in your brain can well be captured on camera. That iscalled Functional MRI. Clinically there is evidence that goodmusic will have a positive impact on patients, Srikanth said.
According to him, the National Institute of Mental Healthand Neurological Sciences (NIMHANS) in Bengaluru has beendoing trials on this subject with good amount of success. GDKVS VS