Musicians are three times more likely to be depressed, says new study
A new study conducted by Help Musicians UK in conjunction with University of Westminster has found musicians may be three times more susceptible to depression and anxiety than the general public.
How did they find this? Well, the preliminary research surveyed 2,211 musicians, making it the largest initiative of its kind in the United Kingdom.
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The respondents covered a wide array of occupations under the musician umbrella—including songwriters, DJs, rappers, and people in music production—over a long list of genres.
71.1% of respondents said they have suffered from anxiety and/or panic attacks while 68.5% said they have suffered from depression. Data collected by Office of National Statistics between 2010 and 2013 has suggested that nearly one in five of the UK population suffered from anxiety and/or depression.
This means that musicians may be three times more depressed than the general public in the UK.
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Musicians offered up a few main reasons behind the high levels of ill mental health, mentioning poor working conditions (difficulty of sustaining a living, anti-social work hours), lack of recognition for music and pressures of being a woman in the industry.
47% said it was easy to find help while 53% said it wasn't—55% said there are gaps in services offered to musicians.
MetalSucks has some interesting commentary on these results and Help Musicians UK, which you can read here. They claim, “Depression isn’t a symptom of the music industry—it’s one of the music industry’s foundations.”
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Stated on its website, Help Musicians UK leads “a campaign to find solutions to mental health issues in the music industry.” It continues, “We provide help, support and opportunities to empower musicians at all stages of their lives.”
Help Musicians UK hopes to launch a mental health service for musicians throughout the UK in 2017. Find a summary of the study's conclusions here, and find the full report here.
What do you think—Do you feel there's some truth behind this? What about in the United States rather than the UK? What about MetalSucks' comments? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.
