Musician Mental Health: Intersections of Poor Mental Health, Peer Support, and Instrumental Conducting

Abstract

Introduction: The purpose of this dissertation is to contribute to emerging research and work in musician healthcare, and specifically musician mental health. It will review existing research on the mental health conditions that musicians face as a unique population, review existing research on the efficacy of peer recovery work as non-clinical mental health resource, and provide research and interview findings on existing peer support resources for classical musicians. Pedagogical and gestural implications for conductors will be introduced, as well as necessary further research study. Summaries of each topic listed above are provided below. Parts are not organized by any basis of importance or significance. Part One: This literature review aims to aggregate major studies on the mental health of classical musicians as a unique population, relative to existing data from general population studies. The goal is to contextualize the field of musician mental health, demonstrating how musicians on a broad level are an at-risk population relative to conditions such as anxiety, depression, stress, and life expectancy. The majority of the demographic focus is on student and professional classical musicians, though some relevant and important data on non-classical performing artists is also included. The paper will also provide implications for understanding the performance effects of poor mental health for musicians, as well as future research directions for overall well-being. Part Two: The purpose of this second literature review is to introduce peer recovery work as a developing mental health resource for individuals experiencing poor mental health. It will define and specify foundational qualities of peer recovery work, and provide existing organizations, services, and resources as models of its use for varying populations and disciplines, such as undergraduate university students, medical students, and individuals experiencing substance abuse issues. The review will also present emerging evidence and research on the efficacy of peer recovery work on various metrics measuring mental health wellbeing, showing instances of its significant positive impact and improvement of mental health conditions. Lastly, I emphasize the need to explore and develop more mental health resources like peer recovery work to supplement existing clinical interventions, in the context of overall worsening mental health across general populations. Part Three: In this final section, I will discuss existing wellness programs offering peer support services by trained peer support workers. The section will contain information gathered from personal research and various interviews with program directors, to present existing mental health resources for classical musicians. Implications of peer support principles for the conductor will be covered, with a focus on the pedagogical and gestural elements of the conductor/director role. Further directions for research and development for peer support and classical musicians will also be discussed.