Facing the end of life, your own or a loved one’s, commonly brings with it feelings of anxiety. 

Photo cred – Creative Commons: Melozzo da Forli, Vatican image

These feelings may stem from a variety of sources, including emotional, psychological, spiritual or social. Medications, physiological changes in the body due to the progression of illness may also contribute to anxiety in patients on hospice care.

Let’s examine several anxiety scenarios and how music therapy may be applied as a safe, efficacious and cost-effective way to reduce anxiety in patients and their loved ones:

Dyspnea:

When a hospice patient experiences dyspnea, or shortness of breath, anxiety and panic may exacerbate the condition and create in the patient a cycle of dyspnea-induced anxiety. The more panicked the patient feels, the more breathless he or she gets, which, in turn, leads to more anxiety. This cycle of anxiety can often be interrupted…