The Effects of Massage Therapy on Mental Health and Other Health Conditions

by Laura Dickman, BSW Intern

What are the benefits of massage therapy on mental health?

Massage therapy has numerous benefits it can provide for mental health as it can be a safe therapeutic space that individuals might not have been aware they needed. Massage therapy provides relief in all three areas of holistic healing, such as: bio, psycho, and social aspects. To better explain this we must analyze why massage therapy can relieve such a wide range of problematic symptoms in the client’s life?

Massage therapy can work holistically to calm the nervous system, which in turn calms the anxiety/PTSD (other mental illness) an individual may be experiencing. The reduction of these overwhelming negative symptoms provides a space of relief and relaxation for the client. This space for healing may allow the client to better understand their mental illness and how to reduce these symptoms on their own. According to the website AmericanMassageTherapyAssociation.org (https://www.amtamassage.org/publications/massage-therapy-journal/massage-and-ptsd/ ), massage therapy can provide benefits for mental health in similar ways to psychotherapy.

How Does Massage Therapy Improve Physical Health?

There are three primary ways massage therapy improves physical health, observed from published research. It is concluded that massage therapy’s physical effects on the body are: