Hey presto! How magic ‘can help illness vanish’
SOME might think it’s just hocus pocus, but learning magic tricks could boost patients’ recovery, researchers believe.
Singing, dancing and drama are already known to improve mental and physical health.
Now psychologists at the universities of Edinburgh and Hertfordshire have examined little-known studies and projects on ‘magic therapy’ – in which patients were taught playing card or rope tricks as part of their recuperation to keep them busy and use their hands.
Other exercises that have been taught to patients include floating pencil and linking paperclip tricks.
They found ‘positive results’ from the therapies but say more research is needed.
All patients, from children to the elderly, can learn simple tricks thought to boost self-esteem and give a sense of accomplishment as well as providing occupational therapy and help with dexterity.
The popularity of magic in films and books such as Harry Potter means people are open to the idea of learning basic sleight-of-hand techniques.
But watching and learning tricks is also thought to give recovering patients a sense of ‘wonder’ that might boost their chances of recovery. The academics examined magic therapy programmes in the US, Canada and South Africa.
In many cases professional magicians have worked with health staff. Some have even involved famous magicians such as David Copperfield sharing techniques.
In the UK, magicians worked with occupational therapists to create the Breathe Magic programme for children with hemiplegia, a condition that affects movement down one side of the body caused by a brain injury.
By learning tricks that involve repetitive practice of manual dexterity, such as disappearing ball tricks, children’s range of movement has improved.
Professor Richard Wiseman of the University of Hertfordshire, a member of the British Magic Circle’s select Inner Magic Circle, said: ‘Various authors have identified the key benefits that might flow from a magic-based intervention.
‘They include a boost in selfesteem, an increased feeling of mastery, and gains in motor skills. Overall positive results have been reported.’
But he said the results needed to be treated with caution as they involved small numbers of participants and did not compare the intervention with a group who were not given magic tricks to learn.
The study, which was jointly authored by Caroline Watt of the University of Edinburgh, is published in the journal PeerJ.
‘Sense of accomplishment’