Stigma in the classical music industry

Unfortunately, struggles with mental health have always come with a stigma. The world has only really begun to understand mental illness and treatment options relatively recently. In fact, the first piece of legislation in the UK to view mental health problems as an illness was in the 1974 Health and Safety at Work Act, and the first to protect those with mental health illness was the 1983 Mental Health Act.

 

Mental illness can be hard for those who have never experienced it to understand. Coupled together with the perception of mental illness in the media, film and TV, you can see how easy it can be for someone with no experience to have the wrong assumptions about ill mental health.

 

The use of mental health illness in day to day slang can also lead to misconceptions about mental illness, such as saying someone looks anorexic because they are slim, someone has OCD because they like things neat or saying someone is a psyco because they have done something untoward. In fact these illnesses are very complex and severe cases require extensive treatment.

 

Stigma may come from other areas of society too, such as from health professionals, religion, social groups or ethnicity. As musicians, many may feel stigma from the industry about their mental health issues. Often as freelancers it is common for musicians to feel as if they are their own business themselves and so being honest about their own mental health may affect how others view their playing.