It’s no secret that mental health issues impact the lives of many in today’s world. I am a great believer that music can be used as a relief or aid when facing such issues.
For this article I had the chance to ask some great musicians questions regarding mental health, how music has helped them, how they cope and any advice for others that may be struggling.
The artists that took part are: Welsh based band White Riot, US based singer Dinn K, lead singer of Halflives Linda Battilani, Jared Gabrielli of The Rose Monarch, April Rose Gabrielli of The Rose Monarch and Kulick, solo artist FXMKE & Jacob Kulick of Kulick.
It’s no secret the mental health is rife in today’s world. How would you describe the problem and stigma against mental health today?
APRIL ROSE GABRIELLI: I think we collectively do not know enough about mental health to actively hold it to a higher standard. Often, most stigmas are derived from a lack of information, understanding, empathy and education. We need to learn more and care about learning more in a real way.
Mental health is a tricky subject because the symptoms of folks who function with anxiety, depression and other “invisible illnesses” so to speak, do not often receive the same amount of understanding and reaction that one might receive with a broken arm. I think the dangers of ignoring the importance of mental health and care are connected to growing levels of various dangerous phenomena that appear to be on the rise.
JAMES (WHITE RIOT): I think one of the main problems of mental health is that people can’t see/understand the reality of it, which in turn can make it seem like less of a problem. It’s hard for people to help when they don’t know what their dealing with, which is why it’s important for friends to talk about the ways their feeling, so that there is communication.
LINDA BATTILANI: I feel that nowadays there’s more awareness on the topic and more people are capable to embrace the fact that “it’s okay not to be okay” and accept that there’s absolutely no shame in doing something about it. We all might need this type of help one day and it’s great to know that you’re definitely not alone.
GABRIEL (DINN K): I believe there is a bipolar stigma regarding mental health in music. There’s a fine line between glorifying mental health issues and creating awareness, empathy and tackling the topic with compassion while still projecting the emotion.
JARED GABRIELLI: In recent years there has been a significant amount of evidence, both scientific and anecdotal, suggesting some pretty disturbing increases in the prevalence of various psychiatric, behavioral and substance-use disorders.
With only a brief look at the numbers, you can get a good grasp on just how severe and widespread the problem has become. Suicide is currently the 2nd leading cause of death for those aged 10 to 34 in the United States (NAMI, 2019) and the rate at which people are committing suicide has increased by 30% since 2000 (Miron et al., 2019.). Suicide, unfortunately, continues to be on an upward trend with rates that may soon be comparable to those reported during the Great Depression.
FXMKE: Its incredibly hard to find the right people, who will support you and be there for you, without making you feel like a burden. When people finally open up about their mental health, people often respond to it with “Just be happy! Go outside!” But they don’t understand how hard it can be to get out of bed to eat or simply brush your teeth. It’s important that people share their struggles, if they’re ready for it, to bring awareness. To show that it’s a lot more than crying, because something happened. It’s hours of crying for no reason, it’s disassociating, it’s memory loss and so much more.
JACOB KULICK: If you asked me this question two years ago, my answer would have been a lot different. I would’ve said that everyone is afraid to say how they feel or express emotions. I think there is still a little of this, but I feel the problem now is more so about having the proper resources to help people THROUGH anxiety, depression, and so on. We are pretty aware that everyone has some sort of interior world in their minds that sometimes needs to be vocalized or shared. We are close to having step one down, which is to be able to voice these mental battles. Now we need to be able to find people some relief, healthy coping skills, and a little push to do so. Just knowing someone has these issues and not helping them improve is almost the same as not even acknowledging it.
Would you say music is important when it comes to mental health? Would you describe it as being important in today’s society?
APRIL: I think music and art are super important to my mental health, personally. I think any medium that can fearlessly show, release or give emotion is important in the world of understanding identity and our individual mental health. It is fair to say the way in which we entertain ourselves essentially can inform the way that society expresses, communicates and identifies. So it is not only important in society for music to exist, but it is important to assess what exists in our art and what is being said or not said in the media and music we surround ourselves with and indulge in.
MAX (WHITE RIOT): I think it’s always been important for someones mental health, whether it be an escape for the way thy’re feeling, or just having someone recognise their feelings and being able to relate to them, so that they don’t feel alone.
LINDA: Many of our fans told us our music helped them through tough times and I’m honored to be in that position. It’s also a difficult position because then what you do is of too much importance. Saving lives is not why I was doing it in the first place but I’m proud to know that our music can actually help.
DINN K: My experiences involve both sides of the spectrum. As a listener I have absorbed the good and the bad. The lyrics that empower you or give a sense of belonging and understanding of the issue, and those that only make it worse. But as a songwriter, if you really want to tackle it unbiased without a mission except to portray the feeling and the issue through music, you need to show it like it is. It will always be up to the listeners to interpret it and that can be very delicate.
JARED: Yes. Music, just as other forms of art, can be a vessel for expression. An expression of complex ideas and emotions that may never otherwise pop up in ordinary conversations. Music gives us a way of reflecting on, relating to and connecting to these complicated topics safely, without becoming uncomfortably vulnerable. It helps the listener feel a part of something bigger than themselves. Something that, I would argue, is important and integral to healthy human behavior. Plus, there are some seriously supportive communities in the music scene. I think music can provide a voice to the unrepresented, a peaceful moment for the anxious, a feeling of community for the lonely and an epiphany for the uninspired. If we like it or not, I think music matters.
FXMKE: Absolutely! I wouldn’t know where I’d be without music. Listening and writing. Both is like therapy. Having other artists describe their feelings makes me feel less alone, cause I can relate to a lot of my favorite songs. And also people you look up to sharing their story is really eye opening. You see there’s hope and you’ll listen to someone you look up to a lot easier than your friends, your parents, or even your therapist. They could say the same things, but you’ll listen to the people you look up to.
JACOB: Some people use music as a relief to these kinds of things. I know I do with creating it and writing, but also with running and lifting. Even meditation music. Every aspect of self care can be elevated with music. As long as you aren’t necessarily using it to completely escape and not deal with personal issues. Because all that does is suppress until the next time. And the same goes with unhealthy coping mechanisms, like drug use or self harm. Sometimes people need a momentary escape, and for that I think music is a good use, but I try to use it in the opposite way. To feel MORE of the way I’m feeling, to help me process my emotions, and to hopefully move forward.
What are your experiences with mental health and how has music helped with this?
APRIL: I grew up with a lot of anxiety and bad mental health since I was a little girl, since I was at least eight or nine years old. I suffer from sensory overload disorder/panic disorder. Music always gave me a little outlet to indulge in or escape through. Playing and writing music gave me a place to release all of the tension I feel, and when I was sulking on the school bus to Regina Spektor, I felt far less alone than I would have otherwise.
EVAN (WHITE RIOT): I’ve suffered with depression and anxiety for a good while. I’ve found that music has and always will be my biggest escape from the realities that I have to face everyday. I find that music can lift me up when I’m feeling down, sometimes listening to sad tunes that reflect my current situation also make me feel better to know that if my hero’s have gone through what I’m going through and come out the other side then so can I.
LINDA: We all have / have had those albums or songs that we were listening to on repeat through tough times, we all heard words in a song that seemed to talk exactly about the struggle we’re going through. And just like everybody else, this happened to me too. Crying to a song and maybe feeling a little bit lighter later, knowing I’m not the only one to feel like this.
DINN K: From the moment I started writing music at the age of 14 I couldn’t stop. I found peace and clarity in it, it’s my therapy and I grow to know myself through writing lyrics and music. Whenever I’ve stopped for a while, I’ve lost balance and it’s clear to me that I’ll do it out of pure necessity for the rest of my life.
JARED: Professionally speaking, I worked as a counselor and administrator at a residential treatment facility for the mentally ill. While I was working there, I was exposed to the dark reality of severe mental illness and how it can impact everyday life. I also partake in psychological research at the university I graduated from and have
TA’ed/guest lectured a few classes there. There were some pretty wild moments during my career, and music has almost always offered me an escape whenever I felt too worked up. Whether it was the precious 30 to 45-minute commute or the days I spent creating/recording with the band. It always brought me back to my center and chills me out.
FXMKE: When I was about 7 years old, I was diagnosed with ASS and about 10 years later I was also diagnosed with generalized anxiety disorder, PTSD and depression. At this age, I was incredibly lost and stuck in the same place for years. That only started slowly changing at 19, when I met my now favorite band HUNGER. Their singer, Luc, always helps me put things into perspective, which always pushes me into the right direction. They’re always there for me and I now definitely consider them as friends.
JACOB: I experienced anxiety for the first time when I asked my mom if I will die one day when I was about 7 years old and she answered something along the lines of “yes, but you’re so far away from it so don’t worry about it.” I remember the exact place, in the back seat of her car right before we were almost home. The next time it showed up was when my grandfather died years later. I spent about two weeks trying to sleep all day, not understanding how to make this feeling go away, or knowing why I had this feeling. This, along with some other middle school bullying reasons, I started writing music, and it helped me process so much. I was also angry around this time, so listening to screaming bands like “A Day to Remember” really made me not feel so alone in a town that I felt I didn’t relate to anyone. To this day, I have pretty bad anxiety, depression, and disassociation. It comes and goes. And I still use music to get through.
How has creating music helped you get through hard times and personal struggles?
APRIL: I basically started writing music when I was 12 years old, which was the beginning of noticing many of these symptoms and issues I mention. I essentially wrote a musical about myself and my friends with mirroring mental health and life complications. Getting it all out on paper to sing about it truly my favourite form of therapy.
EVAN (WHITE RIOT): It gives you something to hold on to. It gives you hope in a hopeless mindset, and helps you to look forward to your future rather than avoiding it.
LINDA: It’s always been easier for me to write about heartbreaks and inner struggles ’cause my songs always felt like the right place to pour all my sorrow without being judged. When I could manage to write the exact words to describe how I felt, it always felt relieving because it was finally out, written and recorded forever somewhere.
DINN K: It feels like truth. I believe we should all find a good therapist to go to for the majority of our lives and our early adult years especially, music acts as a therapist for listeners and writers alike and I think that contributes to the wellbeing of society in the modern world.
JARED: Music is incredibly cathartic. I’m a drummer so literally hitting things tends to help, but there’s also something more to it that I just can’t put my finger on. Something more primitive and intrinsic. Music is one of the only things that can completely distract me for hours upon end. I will, straight up, forget to eat when I’m making music. It just feels right! There were a few times in my life where music helped me process some terrible events without uttering a single word. It still blows my mind.
FXMKE: It helps put things into perspective and to see if things really are as bad as my mind makes them to be. It also helps me look back on how I was treated and how I treated myself. If things were fair or if it was abusive.
JACOB: It helps with life changes. Life this year has been a mess to be honest. And inconsistent. And unstable. Leaving a major label, uncertain of what my career will be, my personal life and relationships took a big hit, and so on. It was self made for sure, but I am slowly learning how to accept change, especially the change we don’t necessarily want to welcome. And to welcome uncertainty. I noticed during this time that I really started feeling songs when they were played in public, specifically songs that were written about similar situations I’ve been in recently. Sad love songs, longing for home, feeling in pieces. But also happy music when I had good days. Music connects people because we have the same emotions. And that makes us feel less alone. Good and bad emotions. It’s a language that is felt more than heard to me, and will always be special.
Finally, do you have any advice for anyone that might be struggling with mental health issues?
APRIL: Be honest, be open, be kind to yourself, know that you cannot always be just one temperature, seek balance, do not judge yourself, know that you can improve, experiment with different life habits, journal, talk to those who understand, do not internalize the feeling of defeat from those who may not fully understand. Get used to the idea that any and all of your unique qualities or quirks are not a detriment to you… but perhaps your super power
WHITE RIOT: Find what you love and make that your life. Whether it be a hobby, friends or a partner, your mind needs to be maintained from the cloudy feelings of depression with focus and gratification. You’re not alone.
LINDA: Don’t be ashamed to tell someone. They might not be sharing the same pain as you but they can stand by you and give you some good advice. Don’t be afraid to seek help, you’re not weak in doing so: you’re brave.
DINN K: My advice is never to lose sight of the bigger picture of our lives, to take deep breaths and not be too hard on ourselves because the world is already doing that for us. It’s up to us to find ways to cope with what surrounds us and find therapy in art and music.
JARED: Speak up, find support, work hard on yourself, get treatment (psychotherapy AND a psychiatrist) and cut toxic people out of your life as soon as it’s practical. There is a lyric from a Manchester Orchestra song that sums it up rather nicely, “It’s okay to lose a limb, if it gets too heavy.”
FXMKE: It’s okay to go to therapy, it’s okay to do it behind people’s back, if you know they “don’t believe in mental illness“. What you’re feeling is valid and what you’re feeling is real. It’s okay to distance yourself from people, or cut people off if they’re bad for you as well. You’re the most important person in your life.
JACOB: I know it doesn’t help you and your situation or struggles, but know that you are not the only person feeling that way. When I realized that everyone feels similar to me, or people would say “you are not alone,” it made me freak out or saddened even more. How could everyone feel the way I do and pretend they’re FINE! But what you need to remember is that we all come out of it. It doesn’t last a lifetime. We all get through it. Life can’t always just be amazing, or it would feel grey and mundane. The downs create the ups. Talk it out with people you love. If you don’t feel comfortable enough with them, then talk to a therapist. They are strangers, yes, but they are trained for exactly what you need help with. And give it a few sessions. Write, paint, and exercise. Go for a walk. Do things that will benefit your physical being. It will release endorphins to make you feel good. You can’t stop it from happening! It’s a natural thing your body does for you! Take care of yourself and treat yourself kindly. It’s all difficult for me too, but you have to start, and do it every day. You got this.
Please remember, you are never alone.
Some organisations that can help if you are struggling:
24 hour service – freephone 116 123
phone 0300 123 3393
text 86463
List of mental health helplines by the NHS
National Suicide Prevention Lifeline
1-800-273-TALK
The National Domestic Violence Hotline
1-800-799-7233
The National Sexual Assault Hotline
1-800-656-HOPE
01708 765200
01708 765200
01708 765200
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