Mental deficiency means the incomplete development of the mind which makes independent living impossible for the victims. The degrees of deficiency are classified according to the results obtained in intelligence tests: 1. Idiot—mental age of less than three years. 2. Imbecile—age of three to seven. 3. Moron—above the age of eight, but deficient. The treatment for these groups consists of custodial and hygienic care plus any education which can be attained, and of course music will play its part in this in a purely academic manner.
Summary
Music can be used in psychiatry for its value in listening, group participation, and creation of sound, as follows:
- 1. By listening
- A. To improve attention.
- B. To maintain interest.
- C. To influence mood (to produce exhilaration, etc.).
- D. To produce sedation.
- E. To release energy (by tapping of foot, etc.).
- 2. By participation (in group singing, bands, etc.)
- A. To bring about communal co-operation.
- B. To release energy.
- C. To arouse interest.
- 3. By creation of sound (playing of instruments)
- A. To increase self respect by accomplishment and success.
- B. To increase personal happiness by ability to please others.
- C. To release energy.
CHAPTER FIVE
BACKGROUND MUSIC
The average mind is incapable of engaging effectively in two thought processes simultaneously, but it can in the course of daily routine accept a multitude of mental stimuli at any one moment. If one of these stimuli is sound, it may be the natural complement to the visual experience without which a feeling of incompleteness may result. The observer at the sea-side is intrigued by the cyclic rolling of the waves, and the periodic crashing of the breakers is an integral part of the pleasure of watching waves. Yet, that same series of sounds might be very disturbing to the same person who is trying to work out his income tax return in the quiet of his study. The importance of complementary sound becomes more apparent when one studies the reaction of an audience attending the “movies” during periods of faulty mechanical silence. Sound as a background to mental or physiologic processes may be natural or undesirable but can be very important. If carefully selected, there are few situations in which music cannot be used advantageously as a background to improve the quality or pleasure of activities and living.
At this point it must be repeated that the importance of music in the lives of people is not uniform and that, for those few who dislike music, background music is not recommended.
Background music, as its name implies, is always secondary to some other activity. Only those phases of the subject which touch upon hospital life will be discussed here, and they are, in order of importance: the music which accompanies meals, painful procedures, calisthenics, and work. Inasmuch as the latter two are not encountered in all hospitals they will be given only brief consideration. The subject of mealtime music is of sufficient importance to be treated at length and will be discussed in the following chapter.
Counter-irritation is a very old method of treating pain. For painful conditions where specific relief can be given in no other manner, physicians did and still do try to distract the mind from the site and severity of the pain by transferring attention to another area. This can be accomplished by irritating the skin over the affected area in the hope that the resultant inflammation will be more superficial and visible and in that way neutralize the pain. In a less physical sense people “take their mind off” unpleasant subjects by exposure to humor or other forms of entertainment. Avicenna, the great Bagdad physician (980-1037 A.D.) included in his Canons of Medicine[37] the following suggestions:
“1084 ... Other means of allaying pain: 3. Agreeable music, especially if it inclines one to sleep. 4. Being occupied with something very engrossing removes the severity of pain.”