Dance as therapy for teenagers with problems

One study concludes that dance is a way to prevent and treat depression or melancholy.

Dancing is a healthy and makes fun. In addition we should add a third adjective, the therapeutic. A study among adolescents and published in the journal Archives of Pediatrics Adolescent Medicine shows that dancing reduces feelings of discomfort and stress common in this critical age.

The research, conducted at Orebro University Hospital in Sweden and led by the therapist and dance instructor, yoga and "core" Anna Duberg was conducted for three years with 112 girls between 13 and 18 years. These teenagers, enrolled in a school in Sweden at the request of the therapist, suffering psychosomatic disorders such as headaches, back, stomach, or a feeling of fatigue, anxiety or depression. The purpose of the study was to assess whether the dance influenced positively and favored the decrease of symptoms.

The classes include contemporary, modern and African jazz. They were held twice a week for eight months. The teenagers began with 15 minutes of heating, 40 minutes from dance to finish with stretching, massage, relaxation. In each session was allowed a few minutes of free dance, in which adolescents could imagine choreography. "The aim was to give a chance to young people experiencing their bodies in a positive way," said Anna Duberg.

At eight months of start dancing, 63% of young people said "feel good". At 12 months, the rate rose to 83% and psychosomatic pain and anxiety were gone.

The analysis published in the Archives of Pediatrics Adolescent Medicine concluded that "dance helps girls to overcome melancholy, stress, fatigue and headaches, and improve mental health and self-esteem" at a crucial time as it is adolescence.