Hello follow Steemits.
I have decided to write this post as something everyone should read! it discusses the issue of clinical depression and anxiety in the music industry and is targeted to new young musicians and experienced ones as well. I have seen in recent years many many musicians both at the top and bottom of the industry and those who seek to get into it, are becoming more and more vulnerable to the dangers of developing serious mental illness, depression and Anxiety. We have recently seen in the world media that many great and gifted musicians are committing suicide and have been severely affected by drugs and alcohol. ITS TIME TO REACH OUT AND HELP!! I am sure each one of you know someone in this position or have experienced depression and anxiety yourself and this illness s more common in naturally creative people who don't quite gel with social norms and expectations.
In what you read below, i have at times included some things from my own life to use as an example, but the focus of this post is for everyone, musicians, artists, sports people and friends of family these people to recognize that the music industry inparticular can kill!
I personally have played in bands and as a solo recording musician for years and always longed to be in the music industry but never really got far. My music was good and those who heard it enjoyed and liked it. I eventually moved away from bands and live music and became a sound engineer, which i enjoy. HOWEVER, since i was an early teen i have suffered from clinical depression and anxiety to a point that now as an older adult i work alone and have reduced my contact with the outside world and have cut of people from my life i felt were not beneficial. While I am the type of person that can do this and function better, many can't. I have my close family and some great friends (mainly old school friends whom i really only communicate with via social media) who make me happy and i am so happy to see their lives go well too.
Clinical depression and anxiety are drastically misunderstood in society and are serious illnesses that can cripple a person socially, medically and psychologically. Clinical depression and anxiety are not about having a day where a person feels bad and has to just buck up, or about getting nervous at talking to someone. These illnesses are devastating to life and person, they are medical physiological imbalances that cause a person to eventually become isolated, alone and emotionally distressed to a point where the person struggles to see value in their life, while all the people around them can see their great skill and talent but can't understand why they are unhappy, or why they can't see their own successes. And its very hard to reach them.
Recently, the music industry has lost some amazing performers, including Prince (drug overdose), Chris Cornell (Sound garden-suicide) and Chester Bennington (Linkin Park- suicide). They die from drug and alcohol use while in serious states of depression. They had families and children, they were about to go on new tours with new records, the world was in their favor and yet they sat in motel rooms depressed and devastated by emotional strain no-one can understand or comprehend unless you endure it yourself. Their family may not have seen the signs or if they did, were not aware of how to offer help or support. So mental illness as depression and anxiety are not only devastating to the sufferer but EQUALLY distressing on the immediate family as well.
THE ROLE OF ALCOHOL AND DRUGS
Many musicians are exposed to the influence of these substances from early on in their life or careers and are often used with the belief that it will expand their creativity and vision. This is true to some extent but as the personal demand to make better music than before, public appearances and long work hours or the failure to often find regular gigs and work for those who are not discovered mounts up, the drug and alcohol use becomes an emotional and physical dependency to relieve stress and anxiety. On a personal level for me i had a struggle with drug use for many years, to a point when injecting morphine pills and smoking ice, drinking, dropping LSD and other drugs became a daily part of my routine. Even after 3 years on methadone i still found myself returning to various substances to get relief from my own mind and the hole got deeper. After three different times in a psychiatric ward (for various issues) i finally had to find my own self in sobriety and eventually i found that having a clear mind was a new and peaceful experience. However, so many don't find this place and take the wrong fork in the road that eventually leads to death.
After many years of being clean and sober and still struggling with finding work of any kind, my personal fight each day still continues but i have support from my wife and kids,i understand real love they give and i give them, we worked to make our house a happy house. I have also had times where i even lost 3 jobs in one year! this involved 2 redundancies, and a dish washing job in a restaurant kitchen at 37. I had had enough, and returned to study, i did engineering and found my personal enjoyment in this work. When i finished my degree i started my own business which has been running for the last 9 months, so early days are hard days. But i had to find a variety of ways to make ends meet and my goal is to build something from nothing, which is now starting to happen. I am more creative and inspired each day by very small wins and just trying new things. I have failed so much at many things but i learn and keep moving forward. I still suffer a lot of anxiety and use a small amount of medication for that but keep it well controlled and minimal. I do get waves of depression, the last one lasting a few weeks but i know that when i hit these periods i just have to let it ride and stay focused on a goal (such as having a drive in a lamborghini so i watch videos of people driving lamborghini's and it makes me feel good and ambitious).
WHAT IS THE SOLUTION, HOW DO WE HELP?
It is very painful and difficult for family to watch a loved one decay from mental illness just the same as it is to watch some one decay from a disease like cancer. The feelings of helplessness and the frustrations build up and make the environment worse rather than better. So how can people help? The first thing i think is not to add pressure by pushing the depressed person to perform when they simply can't. Its ok to tell the sufferer that you see them having a problem with depression. You can simply suggest that while you may not understand their feelings you can listen to their fears and anxieties, get them talking a bit. Be an open ear. Then you can simply offer questions rather than tell them what they should do.
Ask them where they think the fears are coming from, but most of all, encourage them to see a doctor for a diagnosis. There is no shame in getting help, DEPRESSION AND ANXIETY CANNOT BE MANAGED ALONE! but the help must encourage the sufferer to see that its ok to feel unwell, its ok to see the world as they do,BUT that view they have is not allowing them to see the good things, their kids laughing at a cartoon, etc. It will be difficult at times to get the person outside and moving around, but it should be done. Avoid shopping malls and lots of busy public areas as they are pools of frustration and aggression.
Recovering from depression and anxiety is a very slow process and a full recovery may never really happen depending on the case. But to be supportive and provide space for the person, an open ear to hear their grievances (but they should see a counselor, because regular people can't handle hearing negativity for long periods regularly and you shouldn't have to!). Offer small reminders of the good things in life can help them keep a better balance on perspective and tolerance of the world around them. Medication can help but it must be remembered that depression medication is only to get the person to a position that helps them see their illness and to give a better chance at fighting the darkness and restoring their minds, it is not a cure!
Our metal band around 2011 - doing a gig Im on the far left in black with BC RICH.
So my message to any musician who is starting off, or has been working in the industry and struggling with success is this: never give up on your dreams, you will get them, but it takes time and patience, make sure you have a good support network of friends or family, never turn your back on those who support you, be brave enough to admit you may have a problem if it occurs, get help and realize that depression blinds you from the good things around you. Its the small successes that matter not the big ones, the road is always going to throw you dangers and challenges but keep your focus on your dreams, use meditation and stay healthy, be active with others but know your personal limits when it comes to your time and what you can promise or offer. Love what you do and when the love fades, find a way to refresh it, or WALK AWAY start a new path in a similar field, learn to help others the way others have helped you, and if you feel that alcohol or drugs inspire you then be very careful of where you are heading, how you are feeling and talk to others, try a group experience rather than over indulging alone, you can die! (one time i was on heroin and took a hot bath and after a while i began to slide under the water from being over-relaxed..i was 17 years old and really stupid!) minimise your consumption of both, because they will destroy your health in the long run.
I hope this Blog has been of some worth to someone out there, i just felt that this is an issue that has been going on and nothing seems to change, we need to reach out and be a community of musician folk in an industry that should be healthy, inspiring and creative, not intoxicated, blindly stupid, self indulgent and destructive, whatever genre your music is. Music should help others "feel" what you feel, and experience what you have experienced. Let your creativity and your soul be seen as a light rather than a pillar of salt, we need to stop the industry vampires and protect each other with encouragement and support and there are so many ways to do it. Anyway, let this post reach those whom it needs to and enjoy your day, whatever you may be doing.
regards
Shan the Soundman.
Hi Shan , my friend , I have to say something : First , this is not an illness , I already have it in my mind , from my childhood I always thinking about suicide and death , I remember I asked my mother why you bring us to this world ? , this is a real Important question which people may laugh at me when they read it because they stuck in their stupid world ! , I think these people don't need help , the only one who can help them is themselves , but the problem in here is that people think those who die or do suicide are bad people , and I dont know why people scar of death ? I don't wanna advertise for suicide , it's a thing which no one can reach it easily , it's a point of truth , when you believe it and found the truth , nobody can stop you , I have an uncle and he is in a real bad life and he use much drugs any kind of them but he don't do suicide because this is not for those who use drugs or alcohol , it depends on you , your inside , what you think, I want to show you a truth :
Where did we come from before we born ?
where are we all going ?
Death is the answer to all !
and living this life is like a show , like we are playing roles in a show , and must of people play stupid roles , and nobody even think about it.
but I don't mean to talk with pride , I just want people and you my friend to see this thing from the eyes of those who want to do suicide , I Love to do suicide and finish the shit , but the problem is I care for my parents, I think they will hurt so much , I even think maybe I can do it when they were not in this world , but I tell you again , I don't wanna advertise this to others , this is what I want.
and another thing is that people think if someone did suicide it's because of his problems , work or a girl or something , I tell you that this will work for 20 percent of it but the real thing is from the inside and it's 80%. something a person who do suicide wanted to do it before everyone thought about it !.
and here are some music about the Truth :
what all the people do is : the stupid show must go on ! so do the generation and give birth more , more slaves for 70 to 90 or 100 years life , we take them here and give them a short stupid life and we think we are wise men.
sorry my friend , I don't mean bad to you , I say this to all who think dying sooner than the time is bad , if Cornell and Bennington were alive they could be dead naturally about 20 or 30 years later , what's the problem ? why people want to live 20 or 30 years more ? because they love this stupid world ! we love to lie to ourselves.
Even those politicians who rule this world , they are stupid too. they use people's brain and brainwash them but my question is , for what ? for more lands ? for more oils ? for how many years ? how many years you stupid politician man can be alive ? bringing wars around the world ! killing many people brutally or putting them in jail and torturing them , putting the blame on some other people , calling some people Terrorists and starting a war to killing those people , for what ? what the fuck is this life for ? I told you even politicians are some sick stupid bastards who live for cheapest thing in this world ! if you born in east part of the world , you will understand more truth of the systems , if you born in the Europe or USA , the media close your eyes on everything and put a smile on your face . only small percent of people can understand these things , I mean about the System and their crimes and lies.
Ok my friend , I think I wrote much , but I couldn't tell you these things in one sentence .
wish you luck,
Davood Faramarzi
HI davood,
I hear what you're saying, but i do know a lot about fighting the thoughts of suicide, i battled with it for 20 years. I am not offended by your comments, i appreciate them, its all good. While its true that people need to fix themselves and its in the mind, the main focus of my post was that there are many younger people in the music industry and trying to get in who are not equipped with the skills of dealing with the battle of depression nor are their families. And yes it is a illness, it makes one dysfunctional in society and in life generally, it is crippling and destructive to one's perspective and their outlook on life, i know this because i have lived it for at least 30 years.
By bringing the issue out for sharing and discussion its another step forward to building a framework that people can use for support rather than feeling lost and alone. To do nothing and not offer support is a terrible result. Having a support network helps people understand the various causes of depression. So this post is about how the industry can cause many people focus on the wrong goals of why they do music. East west doesn't matter, there will always be evil in humankind, but if we continue to do nothing then it only gets worse. An old quote says, "all it takes for evil to success, is for good people to do nothing". Well i have to do something and it starts for me with a post like this. If i fail then at least i tried.
Cheers mate.
Maybe I should not use this space but I really don't understand how such a useful and interesting post has received so few upvotes and comments.
What do people read or watch here?
Don't worry you don't have to comment to this.
Hi Donatello, i feel ya mate, im a little surprised as well but i have given it a little promotion boost so lets see how it goes otherwise, i guess it kinda represents the inherent irony of the whole topic. Raising awareness is a long term game, but thanks for your feedback.
cheers.
This post is so well written.
Thank you for sharing it here!
I follow you now.
thanks i appreciate your feedback.
I was thinking lf writing a similar post after Cornells and Chesters tragic deaths. Music industry has turned into a money making machine pushing artists to their limits phisically and psychologically. Turning them into what is 'trenting' instead of letting them be what they really are. That can crush an artist and make him so unsatisfied of the product he presents to the audience. Imagine all the hate LP got after their last album because of how much the band has changed in order to get back into the popular channels. I bet Chester wasn't too happy about both things even though they used to explain how bands evolve in interviews it was Mike that usually was trying to defend what they do as of late. Imagine a studio pushing you to create something you don't enjoy. Then your true fans turn against you because of it and hate the living hell out of you on the social medias.. it really is a cruel cruel industry..
Really nice write-up. Addictions of all sorts are really dangerous, and fighting them is probably one of the hardest things a person can do. And if depression and anxiety are involved, that makes it borderline impossible. Add to that the social issue of people just slapping a tag of "drug addict" on someone and just ignoring the real struggle a person is facing every day. I think if we, as a society, were more aware of and in tune with these things, it would definitely help the people who are affected by this.
Good to hear that you're winning this fight! Stick with it cause it's worth it!
Follow me and I still like you
Great article and well written and stated.
An often overlooked result from both clinical and non-clinical depression is the inability to ask for help even if you want it.
A great option is to text '714714' and someone will text you back if you can't find it within yourself to speak on the phone.
Again, great article.
Crisis text line -714714
Cheers.