Does Drumming Therapy work?

S

satisfiedwimp

Member
Anyone here heard of Drumming Therapy? I want to know if it works. My brother has the anxiety disorder and I was thinking that maybe this form of healing would work for him as opposed to other, more traditional approaches to mental health treatment.
 
Wow I was drawn to drumming at age 8-I never thought it being self-medicating therapy (maybe that explains why I just enjoy playing rather than a goal to be better). Aspberger-like behaviors/sensory processing disorder traits runs through my family though all high functioning-my youngest daughter had sensory issues and need therapy as a child, and myself and one brother had various traits. I was clumsy as a child (socially and physically) and had sensory processing disorder with a high threshold for pain and didn't like personal contact (my ENT doc tells me I should have been a professional wrestler cause he'd never had a patient with such a high threshold for pain LOL), had ADD traits, did repetitive behaviors, would never make eye contact in conversation and some other traits growing up. Fortunately I conquered all those tendencies , sort of grew out of some, or drumming healed me?. Heck I'm almost normal now ;) ;)
 
I used to be an avid cyclist. Back in 2010 I blacked out in the middle of a ride for unknown reasons. I woke up in the hospital with a bunch of broken bones, including hip and collar bone, but the worst part was the head injury.

I was originally told I’d be out of work a minimum of six months and may never fully recover. Then the psychiatrist learned I played drums. He told me to play as long and as often as I could, play Mensa games and anything that would challenge my mind. It was tough playing drums. I could somewhat move my left foot without hip pain and balancing on the stool was tricky. I could move my left wrist, but only enough for the snare. My right side was fine, so that’s what I did.

On my second month follow up doc was amazed! First, he didn’t think I actually would do the things he asked, as most will just sit around and go into a depressive state, but because of the amount of brain activity required to drum, my brain injury had healed. Doc said it’s rare to see anyone recover that fast or fully and said it was because of my dedication and drumming and forcing my brain to reconnect the cells in the damaged area.

I still remember the shock of it like yesterday. Waking up in the hospital fully aware of myself and my surroundings, but not being able to transfer that to my surroundings. It was like there was no connection. Most of my drumming therapy was frustrating. I sounded like I was in elementary school picking up sticks for the first time. It took a while to just be able to play a beat and fills would come and go by and nothing! I’d just miss them entirely and never change anything. Slowely things improved and I would get fully sucked into a song and forget the pain I was in. Ghost notes started coming back as my motor skills started going back to normal.

I honestly don’t think I would be where I am without drums. There really is something to drumming therapy and how it forces you to build focus, independence and motor skills. I think if it’s between hand drums and say guitar, either would have the same effect, but adding two more limbs playing a set does even more.
 
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Wow Aztec powerful testimony. The more I think about it I can connect playing drums to my healing in a lot of my life-on a topic I can't post on too cause it would be removed. It likely has helped heal me in ways I've never comprehended-your story really affirms that. Now I'm in my 60s drumming is even more important for mental/physical exercise and help prevent Alzheimer's -dementia issues I think now ). I was watching my drumming the other day and noted dang my arms look pretty muscular-given I'm an old man who doesn't do squat.
 
Drumming IS therapy. I have high stress which leads to anxiety and panic attacks. I see a therapist once a month and she highly recommends I play my drums because it is a great stress release. Think about it, when you are angry you want to hit something. If you do hit something you feel better because you are releasing stress.

Drumming is just hitting stuff. The drums can take a beating, don't talk back, and don't whine about not wanting to hear your problems. Plus you won't get broken knuckles, have to patch holes in drywall, or get arrested. Best therapy ever.
 
Wow, thanks for sharing stories and testimonials. Drumming is truly wonderful in so many ways. You all just get more and more interesting the more I read! I love you guys and occasional gals.
 
"Wow, thanks for sharing stories and testimonials. Drumming is truly wonderful in so many ways. You all just get more and more interesting the more I read! I love you guys and occasional gals."
I second that and you realize the adversities many members endure (Aztec's story is powerful-I have a friend paralyzed from tripping on a root in his yard)-and this is a great accepting encouraging community. I'm a little weird, ok really weird, but ya still tolerate me-I know that can be difficult cause I can drive anyone crazy. I don't cognitive try-I guess I'm a hapless fool but in general a lovable one. My students use to tell me "Doctor Beall you are just a big kid!". I always hated being called "doctor" my wife is a physician so I always reserved that for her and when you say doctor well then people expect me to be mature or say something intelligent. Screw that nonsense-I am all about being real-even if a hapless fool.
 
satisfiedwimp said:
Anyone here heard of Drumming Therapy? I want to know if it works. My brother has the anxiety disorder and I was thinking that maybe this form of healing would work for him as opposed to other, more traditional approaches to mental health treatment.
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My mother used to do social work with 'at risk' children and therapeutic drumming was a part of that. At risk in this case means kids who were abused, were abusive themselves, bipolar, borderline, and other troubling mental health criteria compounded by things like coming from families with precarious economic situations and some kind of traumatic social dynamic.

Anecdotally, I'd hear that the drumming was the only thing that made some of these kids engage at all. Some of these kids would have built walls so thick and attempt at getting through would be met with tantrums or outright violence. Drumming gave a path through. It also seemed to create connections in the group itself that reduced predatory behavior. I could continue, but I'd be getting hyperbolic and prone to remembering incorrectly because this was 15-20 years ago.

Suffice to say, there's plenty of people who agree it has benefits outside of the more cognitive and physical.
 
I think being annoying and a big kid goes hand in hand with being a drummer. How else could we be satisfied!? 8-P
 
AzHeat said:
I think being annoying and a big kid goes hand in hand with being a drummer. How else could we be satisfied!? 8-P
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I'm complete opposite of this. I'm way too serious about my responsibilities and get annoyed at every little thing. And there is no grey area, it's all black or white. Drumming is one of the only things I do where nothing else matters and I can feel relaxed and at peace with myself and the world. Again, best therapy EVER!
 
It is great to read all of your stories!

I used to have incredibly bad social anxiety and IBS (they went hand-in-hand). But drumming (and video games lol) always helped me deal with those issues so much by helping me relax and express myself and focus completely on my primal creativity. I am MUCH better now, but I still begin to feel more anxious and generally unsettled if I haven't played drums (even just on the pad) for awhile. A long time ago, after I had been drumming for a few years, I realized that I wasn't terribly interested in playing gigs and joining bands; rather, what I got out of drumming was its therapeutic benefits. I was drumming for myself--for my own joy and mental well-being. Even to this day, after drumming for 13+ years, I still see drumming this way. I like playing in bands and doing gigs more now, but at the end of the day, I do it for myself.
 
Musical therapy is a great tool for many things. It's not just one thing, though. There are many ways and a good therapist knows how to adapt. Knowing your patient is much the same as knowing your student, seeing what's relevant, which direction to continue in and being able to see and understand how and why to further enhance the process.
 
martianmambo said:
It is great to read all of your stories!

I used to have incredibly bad social anxiety and IBS (they went hand-in-hand). But drumming (and video games lol) always helped me deal with those issues so much by helping me relax and express myself and focus completely on my primal creativity. I am MUCH better now, but I still begin to feel more anxious and generally unsettled if I haven't played drums (even just on the pad) for awhile. A long time ago, after I had been drumming for a few years, I realized that I wasn't terribly interested in playing gigs and joining bands; rather, what I got out of drumming was its therapeutic benefits. I was drumming for myself--for my own joy and mental well-being. Even to this day, after drumming for 13+ years, I still see drumming this way. I like playing in bands and doing gigs more now, but at the end of the day, I do it for myself.
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Most selfish drummer ever right here. I totally do it for my own ecstatic joy. But in the process of us doing us, plenty of folks get happy too....and thats just fine with me.
 
GetAgrippa said:
"Wow, thanks for sharing stories and testimonials. Drumming is truly wonderful in so many ways. You all just get more and more interesting the more I read! I love you guys and occasional gals."
I second that and you realize the adversities many members endure (Aztec's story is powerful-I have a friend paralyzed from tripping on a root in his yard)-and this is a great accepting encouraging community. I'm a little weird, ok really weird, but ya still tolerate me-I know that can be difficult cause I can drive anyone crazy. I don't cognitive try-I guess I'm a hapless fool but in general a lovable one. My students use to tell me "Doctor Beall you are just a big kid!". I always hated being called "doctor" my wife is a physician so I always reserved that for her and when you say doctor well then people expect me to be mature or say something intelligent. Screw that nonsense-I am all about being real-even if a hapless fool.
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Ur my kind of people GetA....
 
Do not accept direct medical advice from a web site.

I suggest discussing this with the psychiatrist involved as it can depend on co-concurrent issues.

IMHO, yes...music therapy can have a profound effect on mood disorders.
 
I think any person that is born with an affinity to music inherently knows the powers that music has.

That said, I wish we all tuned to A432. It's the proper tuning for pitched instruments and has great effect on the human body.
 
Otto said:
Do not accept direct medical advice from a web site.

I suggest discussing this with the psychiatrist involved as it can depend on co-concurrent issues.

IMHO, yes...music therapy can have a profound effect on mood disorders.
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No one is giving advice, we are sharing our own account of how drumming as therapy has helped us with our own issues.

Telling someone to see a psychiatrist and to discuss any co- concurrent issues on a drum forum is giving medical advice on a website. :)
 
I don't know about cognitive therapeutic. I'm into the gongs, bells and singing bowls. It's odd all the medical journals have thoroughly debunked it, and the cosmic theory is totally obviously BS, but then you see doctors and therapists prescribing standing in vibrating machines, because it stimulates bone growth. Why couldn't you use a vibrating bowl to do that again?
 
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