for musicians
Musicians and Mental Health Issues
Musicians are highly creative. The career of being a musician is unique, specialized, rewarding and extremely challenging. There are many studies that link mental health issues and musicians. In 2016 Help Musicians UK found that out of the 2,211respondents took part in the industry-wide survey 71.1% of all respondents believed they had experienced panic attacks and/or high levels of anxiety AND 68.5% reported they had experienced depression.
While the process of creating, producing and sharing music is highly satisfying, the lifestyle and music industry is extremely challenging. Within this industry there is a supply and demand relationship. If you are a touring musician, you are both an entertainer for others and a creative artist. The supply and demand of contracts, expectations, judgements, playing a role for others all while striving to meet one's personal goals and rewards of being a musician comes with intense highs and lows.
In 2019 Union Records surveyed about 1500 musicians. They reported that 73% of the music makers endure mental health concerns, with depression and anxiety being the most common disorders. Furthermore, a survey by the Inaugural Music Industry Research Association (MIRA), Princeton University, and MusiCares interviewed 1,277 musicians. They stated that many musicians experience mental health concerns.
Below are just some of the unique challenges that a musician has to face at some point in their career of music that has a great potential to bring on symptoms of depression, anxiety and other mental health issues related to stress. Male or female, the lifestyle of a musician is unlike any other lifestyle and comes with its own special highs and lows. Below are only some of the challenges, certainly not all, that a musician may face which can lead to symptoms of depression, anxiety, adjustment disorder, relationship issues and other mental health issues.
Long Hours in the Studio
Making an album is a long, super focused time of immense creativity and artistic collaboration. During this time, a musician gets to dive into their art. Oftentimes while working in a studio, the creatives in collaboration are very connected, bonded and tuned in to the collective inspiration of music that is feeding their own soul. This is a time of Soul Food, nourishing the artist Spirit with like minded friends who understand the process and nothing needs to be explained, art is the focus and music is the food. These long focused hours have the potential of effecting time away from relationships, family and “regular life” of the musician. Once the project is over, the musician goes home to their day to day. In this time a musician can often feel lost, misunderstood, bored and experience a deep sense of lack.
Touring Musicians
Along with long hours, erratic schedules, inconsistent places of eating, sleeping and showering… a touring musician is constantly on the move and operating on very little sleep. Oftentimes eating from gas station pit stops or quick restaurant pickups, nourishment mentality is eat when you can and where you can. This throws any routine, structure and comfort of living out the window. Adding in the length of the tour itself, a musician is often gone for 3-6-9 weeks at a time, traveling state to state, coast to coast or country to country. This goes without saying that this lifestyle greatly affects the stability of mental, emotional and physical health at some point in a touring musician's career. All the while, missing out on family connections, friends, events and home life. Relationships of a touring musician are often challenged by the time gone and lack of connection that naturally happens in separation to one’s normal life. Along with everything previously discussed, it is very common for symptoms of depression, anxiety and other mental health issues to arise just before, during and after a tour.
Self Medicating
Self medicating is a well accepted and nearly expected part of a musician's life. It could be as simple as relying on caffeine to get through irregular hours of travel, setting up for a show, performance or having to be “on all the time” when talking with fans, promoters or your own band members. Alcohol and drugs are just a part of the music industry and given out freely. With high stress conditions, high demands and high performance times, having free drugs and free alcoholic drinks are easily something one can take the edge off with. Other ways of self medicating could be shopping, sex, gambling and poor eating habits (sugar and highly processed foods).
Entertainer
The highs and the lows. There are many stages, phases and levels of being a musician. Some are simply studio musicians that are hired for studio recording gigs knowing that what they create will forever be a part of a song or an album. Then there are those that only play in coffee shops, restaurants, bars and other public places with a low volume of people listening. Then there are those who tour and perform in bigger venues, traveling from stage to stage to put on a show. It doesn’t matter how small or how big the venue is, how little or how many people there are… in creating music there comes a time to play said music for others. When playing, musicians can often enter a flow state and transcend the audience watching them or they may very well stay connected/engage with the audience. Either way, all good things must come to an end. After the show is over, the fans go home, the band packs up and the high comes down. This high to low creates a brain-body chemistry, a rush of chemicals and hormones that is constantly trying to stabilize itself. A lack of sleep after the intense on stage experience may occur, an effect in appetite, a need for self medication for a number of reasons may be a factor at some point in the day to evening routine of performing. This all leads to stress within the body-brain complex and nervous system.
Pressure to Please
The image of a touring musician, especially in today's world of social media, is of glamor and intrigue. The moments captured by a photoshoot or while playing a show have a certain emotional mystery to them. As people listen to music in their everyday lives a personal connection begins to unfold to the musician(s). When people spend their own money, take out time from their life, travel to a concert they are committed to an experience that is for them and about them. For the musician, an illusionary image of what fans think/feel about them has been set in motion without any warning. Fans want attention, autographs, pictures, to share their personal stories and the same level of connection to the musician as they have with the songs. This creates a dynamic of false identity that the musician often feels they need to uphold- again supply and demand.
Financial Stress
A career in the music industry, especially in the beginning of one's music career, is oftentimes not financially sustainable. For an artist to have stability in finances, a consistent form of revenue and a financial security built up one must get through a lot of broken times, inconsistent times and uncertain times. Again, the industry has a way of making the lifestyle of a musician look glamorous but the realities do not always match the glamor. There is much that goes into a gig… like venue contracts, door deals, ticket sales, having to pay booking agents, tour agents, management companies, photographers, band members, travel expenses, hotels, gas, plane tickets, and literally so much more.
Integrative Psychotherapy with Summer
Summer knows the music industry well. She has lived a life seeded in this lifestyle and can speak from personal experience. From this, her passion to work with musicians, high level performers, artists, actors/actresses and athletes have been planted. Summer understands the ripple effect that one high level individual has on society and the world around them. There is no question that this particular career, filled with such passion and joy has both a dark side and a light side. Summer’s unique and creative ability to guide one back into a state of coherence and balance is without a doubt her gift to others. For individuals that live a life of constantly moving in and out of a state of routine, schedule and balance, this form of therapy and life coaching is essential. When one is in a state of balance, flow state is more accessible, showing up for yourself and others is easier and maintaining mental, emotional and physical well being is greater. When experiencing an imbalanced state of being, attention is scattered, energy is minimal, creative flow is difficult to tap into. This imbalance is part of the human experience but does not have to have long-lasting effects. We can become self aware, gain tools to manage life and overcome any obstacles that hold us back.
***Agami Karma Therapy holds the highest level of confidence when working with all clients, but understands even more so the importance of confidentiality with high level creatives, artists, public figures and entertainers of all kinds. You are protected, respected and assured a deep level of safety when working with Summer of Agami Karma Therapy.
