How musicians are opening up about their mental health

In the past, speaking about your own mental health and addiction problems in public was seen as a taboo.

But now, in an industry where these issues are often rife, musicians, including Billie Eilish, Demi Lovato and Lewis Capaldi, are digging deep and sharing their most personal experiences, helping many fans “feel seen”.

Following their lead, an increasing number of artists are speaking up to get the message out that it is ok to talk.

lleo, who makes what she calls “bipolar pop”, said the reaction from her fans had been “crazy” since she starting singing about her mental health experiences.

The singer from Cheltenham, who is bipolar herself, said: “People reach out and say ‘this song helps me so much’.”

Swindon-born singer-songwriter Athena Aperta, 26, also hopes her “honest lyrics” will give listeners “hope”.

She has been sober for two years but said her struggles with mental health, alcohol and drugs all intensified after becoming involved in the London music scene where substance abuse was “very common”.

She said finding a job back near her hometown in 2022 was actually “a blessing in disguise”, helping her to overcome her addiction.

“There are drugs still, there’s people drinking alcohol,” she said, but added she is now able to “regulate herself more” if she is around that environment.

Athena recently received funding from the Youth Music: Next Generation award to release two singles, including Facing the Sun, which “is about living with anxiety, depression, CPTSD [Complex post-traumatic stress disorder] and being a recovering people-pleaser”.

“There’s a lack of hope in the world at the moment. I just really want to give that to people,” she said.

A 2023 census by Help Musicians found almost a third of musicians had experienced negative mental wellbeing.

The head of Help Musicians’ dedicated mental health sister charity, Music Minds Matter, Grace Meadows, said: “Not knowing that support is available or who to turn to for support can lead to behaviours, such as substance abuse, that compound rather than alleviate mental health issues.”

She explained the “normalisation of drugs and alcohol across the industry” can further exacerbate this.

“Doing music is so rough,” said lleo, who has dealt with serious mental health issues for several years.

“There have been so many points where I’ve thought, ‘I wish I could just do something else’.”

But the artist said she “needs an outlet and music is the way to do that”.

Following the release of her track meds, which talks frankly about a bipolar medicine that in her words “really messed me up”, she said the response was “really overwhelming and amazing”, with fans getting in touch and sharing similar stories.

“It was really crazy for people to want to open up about such a private thing,” she said.

“It makes me feel very emotional.”

Athena, who has performed at festivals including Boomtown Fair and London Pride, experienced anxiety and depression from the age of 13 and later went on to develop alcohol and drug issues.

She said this was exacerbated while working in a late night venue and gigging around London.

“There was one day where I was offered drugs at 1pm on a Tuesday,” she said.

“That’s when I thought, ‘oh I’m really in it’.”

She explained that she suddenly found herself “in connection” with “probably quite dangerous” people.

She said that the pressure that musicians put on themselves as creatives, linked in with an all too often “lack of self-worth” can add to feelings of depression and anxiety, with many turning to alcohol or drugs as “a form of escape”.

Music Minds Matter said the causes of mental health challenges for people in the music industry can also include “the precarity around job security, pressures of the role, performance anxiety and unstable working patterns”.

Ms Meadows said that in recent times this has been added to with Brexit regulations, the pandemic and the cost-of-living crisis, which she said have “created significant pressures for everyone working in music”.

“More does need to be done to help musicians with their mental health,” said lleo, whose music is supported by BBC Radio 1.

She added that she would especially like to hear more men speaking up about it in their music.

lleo said, despite this, music was “the most important tool” for her to share her feelings and had helped the artist to express things even to her parents that she could not say out loud because “it’s too painful, too uncomfortable”.

Ms Meadows advised anyone in the industry who might be suffering with mental health or substance issues to get in touch with Music Minds Matter via their website or their free and confidential 24/7 support line.

If you have been affected by any of the issues in this article, further help and support can be found at the BBC’s Action Line.