Mental Health Crisis in the Music Industry: Why Are Artists More Vulnerable?

By Laurine Payet

About a fifth of the population suffers from mental health ill-health, such as anxiety or depression. However, the music industry shows a rate three times higher than the general public with a survey by Help Musicians UK revealing that 71.1% of respondents had suffered from anxiety or panic attacks and 68.5% from depression. This is an ongoing issue that has only recently started to be talked about and is in desperate need of addressing by the industry.

It is true that people with underlying mental health struggles are naturally drawn to be led to the music path from a young age due to the cathartic effect of art and songwriting, on top of the will to belong to a community where others are more likely to go through the same struggles. However, the music industry, as well as any creative industry, proves to be a nurturing agent to those problems. But why are musicians more disproportionately affected by mental ill-health when music is proven to be therapeutic?

Pressure, Competitiveness and Workload

The first and more recurrent trigger of mental illness in the industry is the pressure endured by artists. The rise of the internet and digital distribution has led to a massive number of new acts and in consequence, a huge competition.

Starting a career in the music industry can often lead to financial insecurities. It is extremely rare for musicians to start generating an income big enough to cover living costs at the beginning of their career, and sometimes during their whole career. They often have to find a side job that will help them get through living costs. Added to that the fact that a lot of artists move to capital cities where the industry is active in order to have more chances to break through, but also where the living cost is the highest.

Social Media

The digital era hasn’t just increased competition, but also brought about social media anxiety. Highly used to promote music and almost unavoidable, although useful, social media can also cause harm. Jealousy is rife across social media, as people compare their lives to one another, for musicians it can be hard to watch other people’s careers grow if yours is struggling.

The amount of competition can be overwhelming and trigger anxiety or low self-esteem. The digital revolution also allowed the relationship between fan and artist to become very close, giving the public the ability to say anything with impunity, which can have a major impact on someone’s mental health. Everything can be discussed in front of the eyes of the artists: from their body, lifestyle or partner, to their music and work. These critiques often don’t come from a constructive place, but one that is destructive and hurtful.

Having your whole life exposed as a celebrity often leads to mental breakdown – Britney previously being an example of this. In the past, the constant pressure came from the press and paparazzi, but the digital era has now allowed everyone to be one of them, making celebrities’ daily lives a constant show to be commented on.

Drugs and Alcohol

The 27 Club is a huge example of mental health problems in the music industry, but it is closely linked to alcohol and drug abuse. From Jim Morrison, Jimi Hendrix and Amy Winehouse, there are countless artists that have battled against drug and alcohol addiction. Substance abuse is very common in the industry and there are a number of causes for it. Poor mental health often leads to using drugs as a coping mechanism; in an industry where the rate of mental health issue is consequently high, the abuse of drug also is. The old belief that drugs – especially hallucinogens - are an essential part of being creative has reinforced the situation.

Touring is also a very difficult scenario to manage if you face anxiety or compulsory stress and substance abuse is here again a highly used way of coping with it. Added to that, touring and travelling raises an environment with the social pressure of constant partying.

Anxiety, depression, insomnia or hallucinations can be caused by the use of drugs and alcohol. While the effects of drugs on physical and mental health are highly under-evaluated, it creates a vicious circle where the consumer takes more to escape what they’ve been feeling because of drugs.

Inequality and Marginalisation

The music industry doesn’t show any meritocracy and success is not measured on the number of hours spent on a track. Sexism, racism, homophobia, transphobia, all are highly present in society, and even though the art sector tries to showcase itself as open-minded, these problems and inequalities are ingrained into the music industry.

As mentioned in our article about women in the music industry, women and people of marginalised genders are misrepresented and face prevalent abuse. These inequalities are present for all groups of minorities, especially people of colour and the LGBTQI+ community.

Marginalised communities are lack representation within the recording and live industry. The work and energy needed for them to break through in the music industry can easily lead to exhaustion and a mental health crisis. The former Years & Years frontman Olly Alexander explores, in the BBC documentary ‘Growing Up Gay’, the reasons the queer community is more vulnerable to experience mental health struggles.

A Person or a Product

Promoting an artist means branding an artist. Artists have the pressure of being a product if they want to break through and guarantee themselves money to live. The desperate need to make yourself into a product is highly unhealthy and affecting people’s art and individuality. While everything in this environment is controlled to make a profit and leaves its priorities in what can sell, it is difficult to feel valued and appreciated for your true self, leading to underappreciation of the artist themselves. Being LGBTQI+ can also be used as a branding element, reducing artists to their sexual and gender identity, and dehumanizing them.

Uncertainty

Often cited as a major contributing factor to mental ill-health, uncertainty is ever-present for songwriters, composers or anyone creating music. There is no rule in music - or art in general - and listening to music is very subjective. Everyone has different taste and different criteria for what ‘good’ means, making it hard for artists to know how to reach people’s expectations; it is something that doesn’t happen in a role where tasks and goals to achieve are defined. Artists are pressured to create something to satisfy a range of listeners with different taste, which is impossible.

The release of a song or an album is a process that takes months, sometimes years. The waiting, the vague replies from potential collaborators, everything triggers uncertainty, which triggers anxiety.

The music industry is a juggling act for its workers’ mental health. People who are already facing mental illness are more likely to be joining the sector as it has a therapeutic aspect for them, and there is a sense of community in which they are not alone. However, the music industry nourishes the problem with the pressure and competitiveness of the sector and the uncertainty musicians are facing. Social media is important for an artist’s career but its impact on mental health can be catastrophic. Furthermore, the music industry can be brutal for those that live outside the normal and marginalised. Finally, the conditions of touring and the problems of drugs and alcohol in the sector have big impact on mental health. More than having bigger mental health institutions and educating its members about the problem, the music industry has to change its way of running in order to stop nourishing it.

If you are a musician experiencing mental health difficulties, Help Musicians UK has a dedicated mental health service, Music Minds Matter, available 24/7.

https://www.musicmindsmatter.org.uk/

Call 0808 802 8008 (free-of-charge)