The song goes on from here to tell us that to get rhythm when you have the blues doesn’t cost much and yet “does a million dollars worth of good for you.” This concept particularly caught my attention because just a day before, I had read an article titled, “Exercise Leads to Best Outcomes for Depression.” A summary of the study’s findings stated,

A massive new meta-analysis has found that exercise through walking or jogging is better than antidepressants or cognitive behavioral therapy for treating depression. Antidepressants by themselves were the worst treatment for depression, with effectiveness that overlapped with placebo.

And earlier, I read an article on music therapy that indicates,

This comprehensive summary of SRs [systematic reviews] demonstrated that MT [music therapy] treatment improved the following: global and social functioning in schizophrenia and/or serious mental disorders, gait and related activities in Parkinson’s disease, depressive symptoms, and sleep quality. MT may have the potential for improving other diseases, but there is not enough evidence at present. Most importantly, no specific adverse effect or harmful phenomenon occurred in any of the studies, and MT was well tolerated by almost all patients.

A more recent study focuses specifically on depression:

Individual music therapy combined with standard care is effective for depression among working-age people with depression. The results of this study along with the previous research indicate that music therapy with its specific qualities is a valuable enhancement to established treatment practices.

In past blog posts, I’ve written about the nature of depression (see HERE) and explained that the way we handle such experiences can enhance the respect we have for ourselves and others have for us. In other posts I questioned the effectiveness of antidepressant treatment while expressing concerns about its well documented negative health consequences (see HERE). In contrast to the drug treatment approach, exercise actually enhances physical health while improving a person’s experience of depression. As a result of these thoughts that flowed from listening to “Get Rhythm”, it occurred to me that I have never discussed the value of dance for helping someone struggling with depression. So, here goes.

How Can Dancing be Helpful?

First, if limited money is an issue for you, note that dancing can be done for free. Just put on some music and dance.

Here’s a simple routine that can be fun and provide enough exercise to enhance your health. Play a rhythmic song and vigorously dance to it. After the song, take a break by doing a relaxing task, like reading part of an article or doing some meal preparation. After five minutes of catching your breath, put on another song and dance again. Do this ten times, and you have an excellent healthy fun workout.

To enhance this workout, if you are experiencing some strong negative feelings on the day of your dance workout, while dancing, allow yourself to deeply feel those feelings. Let your dance movements help you to express and release all of the negative energy.

Now, some people are experiencing depression because they are lonely. They might be stuck on how to go about meeting new people. Taking a dance class might be the perfect solution. Others who enjoy dancing will be there. Sharing this common interest while engaging in the physicality of dancing can be a very healthy way to deal with loneliness.

Finally, finding a music therapist is another option. Dancing is just a part of this treatment, but discussions of the poetry of songs, along with the feelings that music brings to the surface, can be a safe and helpful way to deal with troubling experiences.

Well, those are some of my thoughts for this week. Until next time, if you get the blues, get rhythm,

My Best,
Jeff

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Some people will enjoy reading this blog by beginning with the first post and then moving forward to the next more recent one; then to the next one; and so on. This permits readers to catch up on some ideas that were presented earlier and to move through all of the ideas in a systematic fashion to develop their emotional and social intelligence. To begin at the very first post you can click HERE.