Are You a Musician Willing to Talk About Mental Illness? Here’s How You Can Help Others.

It’s one thing to talk about a physical malady, but most people still have a hard time admitting to some kind of mental illness like addiction, depression and bipolarity. But because we’ve lost so many afflicted musicians over the last couple of years–Chester Bennington, Scott Weiland, Prince, Chris Cornell, Butch Trucks, Keith Emerson and many others–we’re at least talking about it more.

Let’s be clear: Mental illness is nothing to be ashamed of. It’s just as real as a broken leg and requires real treatment.

The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) in Toronto is always there for people who need help. They know that musicians deal with mental illness (especially depression) and addiction than most professions. CAMH has helped many musicians over the years and will continue to do so. I personally know of several musicians who credit CAMH of saving their lives.

CAMH’s Sean O’Malley has started a podcast and is looking for any musicians willing to talk about the challenges they’ve faced. The more we talk about these sorts of things, the more we can bulldoze the stigma of mental illness and the more people that can be helped.

If you’re interested in either participating in the podcast, shoot Sean an email: [email protected]  Sean would love to hear from you and promises that he will keep all expressions of potential interest confidential.

Here’s an example of the podcast. The topic? Donald Trump.