Filmmaker and author Tahira Kashyap recently revealed that her breast cancer has returned after a seven-year remission. Opening up about her ongoing treatment, she shared a deeply personal and humorous glimpse into her recent hospital visit — connecting each moment of the day with a song that played in the background or in her head. “Hospitals and music are deeply and surgically connected!” she wrote in an Instagram post with the hashtag #HospitalChronicles.
In a series of slides, Tahira described how music unintentionally became a companion through tense moments. “As I entered the scanning and imaging area, the doc there, perhaps in his attempt to make the mood lighter, had his playlist on. This was the song that was playing as I lay down, ready to be taken inside! I gulped and said, ‘Sir I appreciate your gesture but pls isse toh band hi kardo!’” she recalled, as Kal Ho Naa Ho played in the background.
Later, when entering the OT (operation theater) and seeing surgical tools being prepared, Tahira shared, “In the OT the lovely anaesthesiologist asked me which song would I like to listen to before being knocked out. I saw all the tools coming in and being prepped in the trays. This was the song playing in my head!” The song playing in this one was Asha Bhosle’s ‘Chakku Chhuriyan Tez Kar Lo’.”
Post-surgery, while walking the hospital corridor, she overheard a heartwarming conversation between patients, with Pehla Nasha playing in the background. “I can swear I heard her saying agar yeh itna dangal macha sakten hain toh main kyon nahi! I always knew the power of cinema both on and off the screen!”
So, how does music in hospital settings influence a patient and a doctor’s mental state?
Bhakti Joshi, counselling psychologist at Samarpan Health, tells indianexpress.com, “Modern hospitals have come to recognise that beyond physical healing, mental and emotional well-being are also crucial aspects of recovery. Medical procedures such as surgeries, chemotherapy, blood transfusions, or accidents can have life-altering impacts that directly affect a person’s self-image, potentially leading to self-hatred, resentment, depression, and other mental health disorders.”
Music therapy not only aids patients in post-operative recovery but also helps medical professionals — including surgeons — manage anxiety and improve focus.
Can music trigger emotional or even physiological reactions in patients dealing with recurring illnesses like cancer?
Joshi mentions, “Here, the therapist uses deep reflective feelings. Sensitive listening can include somatic experiences or sensations in the body.”
“As Bruscia (1998) has divided music therapy into four categories — improvisation, re-creation, composition, and receptive — each model can provide a socially unifying experience to the individual, whether participating individually or in groups. Group music therapy can provide a dynamic, productive experience and a sense of belonging,” notes the expert.
Story continues below this ad
How important is creating positive sensory associations (like music) during treatment?
Medical research has recorded positive effects of music therapy, Joshi notes, from infants to life-threatening surgeries and post-op recoveries, where patients have shown positive self-regulation outcomes for heart rate, oxygen saturation, behavioural state responses, quiet sleep states, faster recovery times, and earlier discharge.
She explains, “Biologically, music therapy directly impacts the temporal lobe for sound processing, the amygdala for emotional responses, and the hippocampus for memories. Research has proven that music therapy leads to structural and functional changes, including an increase in gray and white matter density.”
DISCLAIMER: This article is based on information from the public domain and/or the experts we spoke to. Always consult your health practitioner before starting any routine.
