Living Well with Parkinson's Disease by Gretchen Garie

Author:Gretchen Garie [Gretchen Garie and Michael J. Church]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780061748592
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2007-01-15T00:00:00+00:00

Creative Therapy

Creative therapies—including dance, music, and art—promote healing through the release of creative energy. One study reported in 1998 found that a group of PD patients who received 13 weekly two-hour music therapy sessions had better motor function than those who didn’t have the musical outlet. The study showed that music therapy had a beneficial effect on the emotional functions, activities of daily living, and quality of life of Parkinson’s patients.

It seems that the creative process—be it painting, drawing, singing, or playing the banjo—somehow relies on different pathways in the brain than those used for everyday activities, so that many people with Parkinson’s find that their symptoms disappear when they are involved in their creative pursuit. The tremors disappear when the painter picks up a brush; the slowness vanishes when the dancer glides across the floor. In fact, many people with Parkinson’s find that if they become stuck in a doorway or trying to turn a corner, they can sometimes get moving again by thinking of the movement as a dance step, rather than as walking from one side of the room to another.

In addition, some researchers have raised the possibility that PD and the medications used to treat it may contribute to the creative drive itself. Other researchers have reported newly developed artistic skills after starting treatment for PD, raising questions—but not yet answers—about the neurology of the artistic process.

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