People who have used music to help them handle mental health problems are being asked for their top recommendations
Songs that help people with their mental health problems are being gathered as part of a new charity project.
See Me, Scotland’s national programme for ending mental health discrimination, is looking for the upbeat tunes or emotional ballads that have helped people with their recovery, got them through a difficult time or motivated them to tackle stigma.
Luke Arthur from See Me who is running the playlist said music and mental illness have a strong link.
Iconic songs such as Black Sabbath’s Paranoid and Nirvana’s Lithium are said to have been inspired by mental health problems, while Eminem and Rihanna’s The Monster speaks about numerous symptoms of mental illness.
“When I had a nervous breakdown due to my acute anxiety music was one of the few things which spoke to me,” Arthur said.
“There was something very powerful about hearing people relay their personal feelings of injustice, confusion and striving to overcome adversity of all sorts.
“Even more than that, the beats and noise made me feel something at a time when I was either numb to or frightened of everything else.”
In Scotland one in four people will experience a mental health problem at some point in their lives, enough to fill a 50,000 sell out gig at Murrayfield 26 nights running.
Lisa Cohen, See Me national manager, said many popular musicians from Frank Sinatra to Nicole Scherzinger have experienced mental health problems.
“We want the playlist to inspire everyone, whether or not they have experienced a mental health problem,” she added.
“We want to use the music to highlight issues that still surround mental illness as 81% of people with a mental health problem have reported facing discrimination in relation to their mental health.
“We hope the playlist will allow people to connect with the music, share new songs and break down some misconceptions about people with mental illness, helping to tackle discrimination.”
People with song suggestions can send them to [email protected], along with a short description as to what the song means to them and why they have chosen it.
