Reducing Anxiety through Music Therapy at a Community Residential Alcohol and Drug withdrawal Unit

Jennifier Bibb^1,2,3*, David Castle^3,4, Yvonne Bonomo² and Katrina Skewes McFerran³

¹Department of Addiction Medicine, St. Vincent’s Hospital Melbourne, 38 Fitzroy Street, Fitzroy 3065, Victoria, Australia

²St. Vincent’s Mental Health Service, St. Vincent’s Hospital Melbourne, 46 Nicholson Street, Fitzroy 3065, Victoria, Australia

³National Music Therapy Research Unit, Faculty of Fine Arts and Music, University of Melbourne, 234 St Kilda Road, Southbank 3006, Victoria, Australia

⁴Department of Psychiatry, University of Melbourne, Parkville 3010, Victoria, Australia

*Corresponding Author : Jennifer Bibb
National Music Therapy Research Unit, Building 862, Faculty of Fine Arts and Music, 234 St Kilda Road, Southbank 3006, Victoria, Australia
Tel: +61432959014
E-mail: bibb.jennifer@unimelb.edu.au

Received: March 26, 2018 Accepted: May 03, 2018 Published: May 10, 2018

Citation: Bibb J, Castle D, Bonomo Y, McFerran KS (2018) Reducing Anxiety through Music Therapy at a Community Residential Alcohol and Drug withdrawal Unit. J Addict Behav Ther Rehabil 7:2. doi: 10.4172/2324-9005.1000179

Anxiety is a main symptom of withdrawal from substances and can be detrimental to treatment. There is little evidence which supports the use of a particular therapeutic treatment in reducing the anxiety associated with withdrawal. This study aimed to reduce anxiety associated with withdrawal through participation in group music therapy for adults admitted to a community residential alcohol and drug withdrawal unit. A quasi-experimental design was adopted, using the self-report Subjective Units of Distress Scale (SUDS) to measure anxiety pre and post a single session. A total of 35 participants attended a one hour music therapy group session and contributed to data collection over ten sessions. A paired two-tailed t-test indicated a highly statistically significant difference (p = <0.0001) between the pre and post session scores, suggesting that music therapy significantly decreased anxiety for participants. The results of this study provide support for the future funding of music therapy programs in inpatient withdrawal settings and contributes to the limited evidence base supporting the use of music therapy for people with substance use disorders.