Spahn C, Voltmer E
Freiburger Institut für Musikermedizin, Universitätsklinikum Freiburg, Breisacherstrasse 60, 79104, Freiburg, Deutschland.
HNO. 2011 Jun;59(6):563-7. doi: 10.1007/s00106-011-2303-2.
Voice and person form a unity and consequently, psychological factors always play a role in the treatment of voice disorders, especially in the area of the arts. This fact has to be taken into account in musician's medicine and it leads to integrating psychosomatic principles within the medical consultation, such as sufficient time, open structured communication, as well as empathy in the doctor-patient relationship. Furthermore, another important aspect of the treatment of singers is the understanding, based on musical expertise, towards the emotional requirements of the profession. If there is a distinct psychological component in the voice disorder it has to be included as a cofactor in the diagnostics. In such a case, the decision of the otorhinolaryngologist should be to include the treatment of the psychological factors within the voice therapy or to initiate parallel treatment in close cooperation with a specialist in psychosomatic medicine or a clinical psychologist specialized in musician's medicine. For singers, performance anxiety represents the additional frequent diagnosis and it should also be treated in this cooperation.
