SBBA takes a pioneering stance on mental health of brass musicians

Aside from the dreadful pain, suffering and tragic death toll of the past year, what the Coronavirus pandemic has brought into sharp focus is the fragility of the human psyche when faced with prolonged isolation and enforced separation from family, friends and work colleagues due to the COVID-19 restrictions on personal interactions and social gatherings.

In brass banding, musicians have talked openly about the psychological challenges of not being able to meet up and play – whether it’s in the bandroom or at concerts and contests – and their anticipated nervousness at returning to rehearsals and becoming performance ready again, especially in the competitive arena.

It is against this backdrop that the Scottish Brass Band Association is pioneering a positive mental health and wellbeing strategy which it plans to roll out to all member bands during the next few months.

Taking the lead on this initiative is Damian Martin, president of SBBA’s Northern Counties association, who has teamed up with Mental Health First Aid England (MHFAE) instructor and advocate Tabby Kerwin.

“In a society where statistics show us that at least 1 in 4 people encounter mental ill health at some point in their lives and that musicians are three times more likely than the general public to experience such issues*, awareness of mental health in banding has never been more important,” says Tabby.

“SBBA recognises the importance of supporting the mental health of its musicians and has developed a strategy to make subsidised mental health awareness training available to all its member bands.

“Our programme will not just make musicians more aware of mental health, but also give them active and practical wellbeing skills to help members to be healthy and flourish.”

SBBA will be the first brass band organisation in the United Kingdom – and possibly the world – to make fully subsidised mental health awareness training available to all its members.

The volatile and competitive nature of the brass band contest scene is considered to be one of the major causes of stress and anxiety in players. The SBBA strategy is intended to tackle this issue by supporting relationships between band personnel, officials, musical directors, adjudicators and critics with the aim of helping to ease time and personal pressures.

“This situation highlights the need for better knowledge, understanding and support of players’ mental health,” Damian points out. “It is the responsibility of brass band organisations at every level and of every size to make the mental health of their members a priority.

“Performance anxiety, to some extent, comes with the territory, but musicians will benefit from having mental health support and information available to bands and also from SBBA’s implementation of practical measures such as calm and quiet zones on competition days.”

SBBA will be rolling out a series of four-hour workshops – either face-to-face or online –for a maximum of 20 people at a time, led and designed by Tabby, based on national and international statistics, expert information in mental health and elements of science and positive psychology.

The first part of the course will cover mental health awareness before moving on to wellbeing and self-care with a specific focus on the needs of musicians.

It is hoped that, in the development of a sound mental health culture, each band will appoint a designated Wellbeing Champion, who would not only have an understanding of common mental health issues and the ability to spot early warning signals, but also possesses the skills to promote positive wellbeing and the confidence to support a person in distress.

“While this is a bespoke programme tailored to SBBA, we want to hear from bands on what they would like to see included in our training,” says Tabby. “One thing we are keen to stress is that the mental health strategy will place no extra bureaucracy on a band.

“The Wellbeing Champion does not have to have any previous experience in the field, just empathy for their fellow human beings and an enthusiasm to help a colleague. The intention is to build up a network of support for bands across the country.”

Damian adds: “By making these initial steps, we hope we can support individual brass musicians, decrease the levels of mental health issues caused directly by brass banding and allow our movement to become a supportive and therapeutic environment for its membership, with an emphasis on the positive powers of music and a desire to help Scottish banding flourish.”

Bands are being asked to contact Damian at brass_monkey@tiscali.co.uk with their nominated attendee and he will be in touch with potential dates and times for the workshops. While free course spaces are limited to one per band, further places are available at a cost of £30/head should bands have more than one interested party.

* University of Westminster /MusicTank survey 2016: Of 2211 musicians who responded 71.1% of the survey respondents believed they had experienced anxiety and panic attacks and 68.5% reported they had suffered from depression. The survey suggested that musicians may be up to three times more likely to experience depression compared to the general public.