Music + Mental Health with Dr. Chayim Newman and Zack Borer

May is Mental Health Awareness Month. And as the weather warms up and music festival season starts, so many artists will hit the road to do what they do best - share their music, live-in-person, with the world, and bring joy to millions of people. But the challenges of being a touring artist can take a terrible toll on creators’ mental and physical health. In a 2022 paper in the Journal of Psychiatric Research, Dr. Chayim Newman and Zack Borer - revealed some sobering statistics from a 239-question survey of more than eleven hundred touring professionals. They discovered that people working in the music industry have rates of depression, anxiety and suicide risk five to 10 times higher than the normal population. That’s an astonishing statistic, but probably not surprising to many of our members who spend much of the year on the road facing many challenges.

Newman and Borer recently launched Amber Health, a company that offers a broad suite of mental health services to help treat the root causes of this mental health crisis and to provide solutions for the music industry. To date, with science-based research under their belt, they’ve worked with such organizations as the Newport Folk and Jazz Festivals, the Country Music Association, Live Nation as well as top artists in the industry.

In an illuminating conversation, Newman and Borer share insights into the unique challenges artists face as working music professionals and some of the ways we can take care of ourselves and each other.

Check out the ASCAP Wellness Program

Learn more about Amber Health

Read how the industry is confronting music’s mental health crisis

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