Hi,

I'm sure most people as musicians have experienced stress at times. There are lots of different mental health issues such as anxiety and depression and I was just wondering if any one had had experience of these or others and had any useful tips as to how they practice and / or complete work with everything else!?

Many thanks

Annetta

Off on a tangent, stress, depression and anxiety have contributed greatly towards musical composition throughout the ages, I'd have thought

Illness of any sort will make practice and preparation of written work difficult. If there are deadlines to be met then one would need to decide to get the essentials completed and put other tasks aside for a while. Taking things one by one and being able to tick them off a must-do list can be a help in making anyone feel better I think.
Years ago when I was really busy teaching both in school and privately I had a particularly full workload at the end of one term. I had a lot of new accompaniments to learn as I was playing for exam pupils of another teacher, I had extra rehearsals for a music group that I played with and then someone rang me to ask if I would direct a weekend course of recorder playing. I jumped at the chance and was rather pleased and excited about it all but very soon realised that there just weren't enough hours in the day to get everything done well. (Not even in my day, which is usually about 20 hours long!) Something had to go and I had the sad task of phoning back to say that, on reflection, I really could not find the time to help out. I am sure that overwork and the stress that it can cause will lead to depression, if that is the right term. There is a limit to what we can achieve. Recognise those limits and do as much as you can, but to the very best of your ability.
If there is a more serious problem I hope that tutors will be approachable and will help in any ways that they can. Most will, and will have seen the problems many times before and will be able to offer useful advice.

For almost a year I have been suffering (if that's the right word!) from the effects of PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder). On bad days, I haven't got a hope of doing anything. I have to be quiet and by myself until the flashbacks/depression/trauma pass. This could be anything from a few hours to all day. The bad day will then turn into a bad night where I have insomnia too. This can go on for a couple of days, by which time I'm exhausted and fit for nothing.

If I can get through the PTSD in a couple of hours, I make sure I play the piano afterwards. It helps in the relaxation/recovery process. If I don't feel like playing, I'll listen to the radio or a CD instead. Either way, music of some sort is the cure-all (for me anyway!). I can then go on to do mundane things such as housework. Or I make sure I visit a friend or family as company helps to take my mind off things.

When I was working fulltime, teaching and studying, things became very stressful with not enough hours in the day. I managed the time as best I could, making sure that Sunday was my day to catch up with anything that had had to go by the wayside during the week. This was mainly my studying. Even then I was often too tired to do much. It's a case of good time management , or having to let something go, as Petra said.

I have had depression for several years. On some days (most days actually at the moment) I can't face doing "proper" practising, so I have a book of easy stuff (all sight-read-able pieces, probably about grade 5 level) which I use on those days. It keeps the fingers/brain working together, and keeps my mind occupied. (I do 5 minute chunks throughout the day, as I cannot concentrate for more than that long)
But sadly, it means my actual studying of pieces suffers. At the moment, I haven't done a "proper" piano practise for weeks, haven't made any great leaps/successes in months, and haven't had a piano lesson in months either (I only organise lessons for when I have made sufficient progress in my pieces).

I find singing/playing in orchestras easier though. So I am still in the Church choir, as I can concentrate when enough is happening around me (to keep me in the here and now), and I play 'cello in an orchestra. Sometimes my brain gives up (even during rehearsals) and I have to consciously bring myself back into the room, remind myself of the piece, try and find where I am meant to be, and catch up, place fingers on strings, etc etc. It wears me out lots, even in an evening of playing/singing, but they are my social events of the week, so I try my hardest to attend every week.

Another thing I find helps me is improvising. I can sit and play for half an hour, just playing, occasionally recording them (I have had my music used by other people from this).

I have, in the past, done a full day at college, then taught maths/music for two hours, then gone straight to orchestra rehearsal for two hours. I burnt myself out, and ended up in hospital for quite a while. Not recommended!

Thanks for all you replies and advice - very helpful, I shall reflect on them and see what happens.

Thank you all,

Annetta

Well, I've been sitting at about grade 8 for at least 2 years now, and I most definitely should have progressed by now. For the last year (at least, officially... probably the last 2 years) my 'mental health' has been far from desirable. I try to practice (violin), but most of the time feel as if I'm hitting my head on a brick wall. Every now and then I'll have a good week, and I'll make some progress, but I really have to grab the opportunity while it's there.

I find singing helps to lift my mood a bit though, so that's come on quite a bit over the last while. I guess it depends on you as a person, and how determined you can be through whatever difficulties you're having. I don't know if that makes sense...

Sometimes I find I can lock myself away and look at theory books for hours, when I don't feel like playing. And I've read one of James Galway's books from cover to cover during one particularly bad day. So there are other ways to make use of the time.

Yes, I do have some experience of this. I will take some time to think and then I will post again. Just deciding how much to reveal.

There's always the facility to pm - I'd choose that route if you're uncertain, as the main posts just stay up on the board for everyone to read.

If you are serious about this - and really wanting to know about effects etc. PM or email me. Both myself and my long time boyfriend struggle with the effects of living with a mental illness, but are also both musicians who find that being able to sit in an orchestra, not have to talk to people very much, and for people not to label us as X and Y but to see us as just two musicians...

This is true, almost every famous composer had some form of depression or a different sort of mental illness (like autism) and it did have an affect on their works, without the composers suffering from depression we might not have some of the great pieces of music we do have now.
although you just need to look at David Munrow to see how serious an illness it really is.

Autism is a neurodevelopmental disorder and not a mental illness.

Hi, may i suggest visiting a GP and enquiring about selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors ( SSRI) as an antidepressive. Its an extremely safe drug and can be used if other non pharmacological methods ie music, exercise, yoga etc fail. Mother dearest has been on it for about a year and alls well.

I've suffered with both for years and have had a particuarly bad time with them lately For a few weeks i was barely able to practise but to make sure i wasn't letting it really get the better of me and stop me doing things i made sure that i picked up my violin and played it every day. Not practised, just played, and even if i only played for 5 minutes, aslong as i did! I'm getting much better now and am back into my 2 hours practise a day regeime
Concentrate on getting better rather than trying to find ways to carry on with the problems. I so reccommend going to a doctor

Hi Anetta, I can suggest that as long as you don't stress over practice and are alert and awake, you don't have problems when playing.

Hi everyone,

Thanks for all of this. I have managed to go and visit my GP and talk about this and things are really looking up now. I am on no medication and not on any prescribed anti-depressants (I was taking St John's Wort for about 2-3 weeks).
There was someone who appeared in my life at the right time and she has a life full of experiences herself and has been absolutely wonderful, so feeling better than ever, not only about practise, but also thing in general. She is also a teacher of the Alexander Technique and how that can really help and has massively helped herself. I'm hoping that she will be giving me lessons within the next month as we have talked about it so much.

But, thank you to all

Annetta
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Hi Annetta

I'm glad you have met this special person and she is helping you and that you are feeling better generally. I find that I am really badly affected vocally when things are difficult/stressful etc., which is very disappointing. But over time I am gradually learning not to be so hard on myself, and to accept that I will improve vocally when life becomes easier. And I would invite you to be kind to yourself in this way too. I found the more I worried about my singing the worse it became and it was turning into a downward spiral.

Take good care of yourself.

Ambs x

Totally agree with you here, Amber. I just needed to find a way of releasing this anger inside of me in a productive way and have found some of this through recent songwriting i.e. I have recently written a song called 'the real me'.

Hope you find that someone special too, it is hard to open up to someone but once you have things become more manageable

Annetta
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