For those of us that live to create, the SARS-CoV-2 or Corona Virus pandemic has, to put it lightly, been somewhat problematic. For starters, there’s the sheer panic of watching 100% of your income disappear almost overnight, through no fault of your own, followed by the rapid onset of fear and anxiety that comes from the uncertainty of it all. Whether that’s the uncertainty of when you are ever going to be able to work again, or the worries over bill payments, or the kids educations, as well as the wish that I would assume that we all have to try to stay current and motivated.
Firstly, I want you to know that you that you are not alone. Every one of us in the creative industries, across pretty much the entire planet, and just about every sector, seems to be in the same proverbial boat. The fear, the doubt, the worry, and the stress are all a part of your personal defence mechanism. Your body is tapping into its ancient fight or flight mode and frankly, it’s tiring. I’m lucky enough to have an excellent network of amazing friends and colleagues whom I’m able to call on and shoot-the-breeze with and generally keep each-others morale up. If it’s really getting to you, then across the globe, there are plenty of mental support charities willing and able to help. Based on website traffic here at Ignition Creative, I’m including some information for those that might want it here.
In the United Kingdom the incredible National Health Service have this useful website:
https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/stress-anxiety-depression/mental-health-helplines/
Staying in the UK, there are some great industry specific charities set up to help too. UK Music has this page, https://www.ukmusic.org/help-and-advice/mental-health/ and Music Minds Matter here https://www.musicmindsmatter.org.uk/
In Australia, there’s Support Act, Here - https://supportact.org.au
In the United States, the US Government has set up this site:
In Canada:
https://ca.portal.gs/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIs6Lk-Y_v6gIVSwVgCh39lwjuEAAYAiAAEgL4h_D_BwE
and In the Philippines, there’s the National Centre for Mental Health:
I struggled to find something specific for China where a lot of our site traffic seems to come from at the moment, but hopefully your local language search engine of choice can help you out there.
Wherever you are in the world, hit up Google, and search ‘Mental Health Support and Country Name’ and you should find something or someone that can help you out within the first couple of pages.
The most important thing to remember however, is that there is absolutely no shame in reaching out to someone when you hit rock bottom or even if you are just having a particularly shitty day. It can happen to any of us. According to the WHO, 3.4% of the global population (264 million people) were suffering from Depression in 2017 and 3.8% with Anxiety, that’s 284 million people. I imagine that this year that number can only have climbed significantly.
I cannot stress this enough. You. Are. Not. Alone. If you know me, by all means reach out if you feel you can or you need to. If you don’t know me, then hit up the contact page, it CC’s my personal inbox as well as the Info@ inbox, and I’m always happy to chat or to offer any advice, help, and guidance that I can.
Do not suffer in silence. I love that we are a resilient industry, but most importantly I love the camaraderie that the industry gives us. I’m frequently reminded just how small a world It is when I get chatting to someone I don’t know and it turns out that they are friends with other friends of mine. For the most part, the people in ‘the biz’, are good people. Now more than ever, we need to try and help each other out as much as we can.
Peace and Love
Smiffy