Looking After Your Mental Health as a Musician

In this day and age, it is so easy to log onto social media and be bombarded with videos of incredible musicians of all ages all over the world. Although this can be inspiring, it’s all too easy to begin comparing yourself to these players. “I will never be able to do that”, was something I would often say to myself, and question my own abilities as a player. The thing we need to remember is how we can frame this from “I will never be able to do that, to “That’s inspiring”. I am all too guilty of comparing my playing to others’, especially players who are a similar age to me. As much as this has gotten me down in the past, and still can at times, I remember the old adage: ‘comparison is the thief of joy’. Don’t fret about what others are doing. Enjoy your journey as a player, and practise gratitude for where you are at. Taking moments in the day to appreciate where you are and where you have come from can help as a mental reset and keep you in the present moment. I also take social media holidays, even if it’s only for a day. It is amazing how much happier I am when I take these breaks from scrolling on my phone, and it’s crazy how much I can get done when I’m not constantly distracted by notifications.

If you are a gigging/touring musician, you will most likely have had negative comments directed at your band; maybe even at you personally. I have had this ever since I started playing shows at the age of 14, and was taken to new levels when I started playing with a professional touring and recording metal band. Going hand in hand with the previous point, social media has made it easier for anyone to speak their mind about anything. Even things that aren’t facts, can be cleverly presented as such, allowing us to overthink every negative comment thrown our way. It has taken me a long time, but there is a saying that I keep coming back to that I use in this situation: “Don’t accept criticism from someone you wouldn’t go to for advice”. It helps to avoid reviews or check the comments section, whether they are good or bad. Stick to your guns and do what makes you happy. You will not please everyone, but you can certainly please yourself by focusing on you and your enjoyment.

Open any personal development book, and it will talk at length about the importance of sleep, diet, and exercise. Regardless of whether or not you play an instrument, looking after yourself physically does wonders for your mental health. They are both so intrinsically linked, that I noticed some remarkable things the moment I began to exercise every morning, prioritise sleep, and look at the food I was consuming.

Now I am no health expert, and I don’t exactly look like Arnold Schwarzenegger; but doing a little bit of exercise daily has done wonders for my mental health. I try to do at least 30 minutes in the morning, and, if possible, I try to get outside to do it. Getting outside and going for a brisk walk can do wonders to clear the mind, taking a break from the never ending to-do list, focusing on the present, while also getting the heart pumping; has done incredible things to help me get out of my own head. Almost acting as a preventative to my anxieties before they have chance to set in. Exercising as early in the day as possible sets up a positive start to do the day, and helps me be more motivated to tackle more in the day with confidence, including taking on something new and/or challenging on the guitar.

Prioritising sleep when I can (I am a parent of a toddler, after all), has seen my mental health take a much more positive step forward. If I feel sleep deprived, I feel like everything I need to do during the day is much harder work, including playing guitar. Lack of sleep affects my mood so much that I begin to overthink everything, allowing my anxieties to consume my thoughts and rob me of an otherwise great day.

I am not the best person to talk about diet; but the older I get, the more I realise that observing what I eat is playing a huge factor on my mental health. It’s like putting the wrong fuel in a car. You are not going to mentally get very far if you’re not getting everything your body needs. There have been times where I eat ‘comfort food’ to convince myself it will cheer me up if my mental health is suffering, but what actually happens is I exacerbate it further. At 37 years of age, I had a health scare that made me reassess my diet; but you shouldn’t need to go through something as dramatic as that to question your eating habits. Too much of the wrong stuff plays a huge part in our mental and physical health. But at the same time, I am never going to tell you to deny yourself of great food and drink. Life is for living, but everything in moderation is a good way to go.

As much as this pains me to type this, playing guitar is not everything. Guitar is a bonus to life, not the be all and end all. As someone who is fortunate enough to play guitar for a living, my life is consumed with music and playing the instrument I love. This is amazing, and a dream of mine since I was a kid. But now that I have been doing it for a long time, I have found that I sometimes become disillusioned with playing, feeling like I am stuck in creative/playing ruts, and my playing and mental health can suffer as a consequence. Taking breaks away from the instrument, whether it be on a daily, weekly, monthly, or annual basis; is great for our playing and our thoughts about our selves. There were times when I would play for hours and hours a day without taking breaks. I thought this would make me a great player, but I would find after a while that I was practising so much that it became a case of diminishing returns. I would mentally beat myself up because I thought I didn’t have a good practise session; when in fact, had I stopped earlier when my practise was at its peak, I would have ended on a high. This is another reason why I end practise sessions by playing along with my favourite records that I know inside out. Leave the practise session feeling good and on a positive high note.

Taking time away from the instrument can do wonders. Meet up with friends and family, get outside, go for a walk, read, do anything non music related to help you get out of that mindset. We’re humans, not just musicians. We need to live a life away from the guitar from time to time. This has helped my playing more than I ever thought it would. A few years ago, I even adopted the practise of taking an annual ‘guitar holiday’ where I take two weeks off from playing completely. When I come back after a fortnight away, my playing is fresh and revitalised, and I appreciate the instrument (and my abilities as a player) even more.

After reading many personal development books, something that sticks with me that I always have to remember is to be kind to myself. If a friend spoke to themselves in the negative ways that you can sometimes speak to yourself, would you be more compassionate to them? Of course you would, so why do we allow us to speak to ourselves in such disparaging ways? If you are having bad guitar day, don’t worry. Don’t allow a bad practise session to convince yourself that you aren’t a good player. Don’t allow a bad day to convince yourself that you have a bad life.

I am not a mental health professional. I am simply offering some tips that I have found helpful for me. If these steps don’t work for you, I find it helps to talk to someone. Online guitar groups can help. Set up a WhatsApp group with musician friends to discuss such matters. I am in a few myself. If you feel uncomfortable doing this, or feel you need to go deeper; I highly recommend speaking to a professional. I had therapy sessions during the pandemic that helped me keep sane during that troubling period, calmed my anxieties, and made me see clarity when my mind would run away with itself. If you ever want to talk, please feel free to contact me.