My most recent email from CURE Today had an article on a recent clinical trial that looked at the benefits of music therapy on anxiety in cancer survivors.
The trial results were actually presented at the ASCO conference in the spring. The presentation was called "Music therapy versus cognitive behavioral therapy for anxiety in cancer survivors: A telehealth-based randomized clinical trial." In the trial, 300 survivors of different types of cancer were split into two groups. All of them had reported anxiety for at least one month. (It probably was not hard to find cancer survivors with some anxiety.) The people in the first group were given Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. (You can read more about CBT here; in the trial, it was considered the standard of care -- the treatment that most people would get if they had anxiety.) The folks in this group met with the therapist once per week for seven weeks by Zoom or other telehealth system.
The other group had music therapy once a week for seven weeks. A separate description of the trial said this consisted of "custom treatments" created by a music therapist "that may involve listening to music, singing or writing a song."
The results showed that the music therapy was non-inferior to the CBT. In other words, the folks in each group experienced about the same reduction in anxiety. The goal of the trial was to show non-inferiority, not superiority. In other words, the researchers wanted to show that both options were useful, rather than showing one was better than the other. CBT works, but some survivors can't do, or don't like it, so having another options -- especially one that is convenient because it can be delivered virtually -- is important.
One of the big conclusions of the study is that Music Therapy has a long-term benefit. Listening to music, or singing, or writing a song can have a short-term effect that we've probably all experienced. Your favorite song comes on (Maybe Lizzo's "Good As Hell," to give a completely random example), and it makes you feel good to hear it or sing it or dance to it. But doing it consistently, or time, can have positive effects on anxiety as well.
I write about music here occasionally. I'm one of those people who remember song lyrics. I'm getting to an age where I forget why I walked into a room and have to turn back around and try to trace my steps and thoughts to remember. But I can sing all the words to the theme song from the TV show "Hello Larry" from when I was 12. So I have millions of words stored somewhere in my brain that show up at times without my asking. Some songs kind of haunt me. They have innocent lyrics that make me think about difficult things. And some that are just fun and make me happy. And some that are really sad, and I like them too, because they can make me sad for just a few minutes and kind of get it out of my system. (Aristotle figured all of that out about 2300 years ago.)
All of this got me thinking about conversations I've had with other cancer patients and survivors who have told me about their favorite Cancer Songs, the ones that they listen to to when they need that short-term boost. Many of them of meant to be inspirational. Some seem to have no connection to the idea of trying to pick yourself up. And a bunch of them, I confess, are songs that I don't like at all, and if I had to hear them every morning to inspire me to face the day, I'd probably stay in bed. What inspired one of us doesn't inspire all of us -- and doesn't need to.
I'm going to share the Cancer Song that I enjoy most. I've shared it here before. It's called "Swim" by a band callad Jack's Mannequin. Their lead singer and songwriter, Andrew McMahon, is a survivor of Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. The song is about trying to stay afloat when things are difficult. You can read the lyrics here -- it's pretty easy to believe it was written by someone who had been given a cancer diagnosis.
So here's my question for you -- what's your Cancer Song? What music inspires you when you're having one of those tough days? Share in the comments. I'm always looking for new inspiration.
And this research is a good reminder that you don't have to struggle alone when things seem overwhelming. The trial is about survivors, but remember that anyone who has been diagnosed, and is still alive, is a survivor. If you're having a bad day, and putting on some music makes you feel better, that's fantastic. But if things seem overwhelming, and Taylor Swift isn't helping, it's OK to find help. The study is about people working with trained therapists, not about people trying to do it alone.
Take care of yourself.
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