As mental health conversations gain momentum within the music industry, more entertainers are being urged to treat the issue as a top priority.

Having witnessed the mental state of a popular female entertainer deteriorate under the watchful eyes of the public recently, key industry stakeholders believe more needs to be done to prioritise the issue.

“People are talking about the issue a lot more, which means that we are finally beginning to accept that we do have mental health challenges. It’s an issue that we really can’t escape. But I still believe we are unwilling to do anything about it,” said Professor Donna Hope.

A professor of culture, gender, and society, Hope said, while the issue of mental health is not as taboo as it used to be, more needs to be done to get people to acknowledge the issue more widely.

“We were trained in this society to see people who are mentally ill as broken, and we unfortunately see all forms of mental illness as people being mad and walking dirty on the streets. But depression is a mental health issue, and people don’t talk about it because people equate it to walking mad on the streets,” she said, breaking down the issues surrounding the public unravelling of a female entertainer.

“It was clear that she was having a breakdown,” she charged, “and what bothered me about what was happening with her was that people used it as an opportunity to do interviews. She was in this episode, and we already knew she had that challenge, and people were willing to exploit that for clicks. I am extremely disappointed in the persons who did that, because it did nothing to highlight the real issue of mental health.”

The professor offered that what was seen could be deemed as a cry for help; help that didn’t come until after her public arrest.

“One thing I was happy for was that during her public breakdown, people in the comments were acknowledging her cries for help, some even encouraging her to get medical attention,” Hope told the Jamaica Observer.

Still, the professor highlighted that it would be difficult to get entertainers to acknowledge their struggles with mental health as they are expected to be invincible based on their ‘larger than life’ personae.

“A lot of pressure comes at these artists and people who have highlighted in the industry, and not just pressure in terms of what people expect from them financially, but also the kinds of lifestyles people expect them to live, what their communities expect from them, and they have their challenges, and they can’t speak about it in the public domain or sometimes not even in the circle of people who seem close to them,” she said. “They… suffer in silence or feel they have to suffer in silence… [I]t’s a lot to bear.”

Tara Playfair-Scott, public relations, marketing, and artiste talent management extraordinaire, agreed. She told the Observer that as iconic figures, artistes are revered, and as such “face immense pressure to maintain a ‘larger-than-life’ persona.”

“The industry’s hyper-competitive nature and glorification of hypermasculinity [for male artistes] or hypersexuality [for female artists] make vulnerability a no-no. Artistes may fear losing credibility, fans, or career opportunities if they admit struggles,” she shared, highlighting that artists instead find other ways of coping.

“The party-centric lifestyle also normalises escapism; for example, substance use… masking underlying issues,” she continued.

“…Jamaica’s reluctance to openly discuss mental health stems from deeply rooted cultural and societal norms. The legacy of ‘resilience first and foremost’ forged through colonialism and slavery has created a societal expectation of strength. Admitting vulnerability is frequently seen as weakness,” said Playfair-Scott.

The industry players believe the time has come to initiate much-needed change involving mental health in the industry.

“We have watched Lisa Hyper break down online… we saw the tragic death of Delus, Konshen’s brother, in 2016, and Baker Steez had an online meltdown last year — yet I have not seen anything from our Government specific to managing mental health in the entertainment community,” she said Playfair-Scott. “Maybe our Ministry of Culture could team up with our Ministry of Health to create a campaign to bring more awareness and let our entertainment community know they don’t have to suffer in silence…”

She also recommended that, in addition to building a strong support team, entertainers prioritise self-care.

“Prioritise routines like meditation, exercise, or creative downtime. Frame these as essential to sustaining artistry, not indulgence. Make time for you and for those in your life that matter,” she said. “Limit overcommitment and social media exposure…. Use music/performances to process emotions while educating fans.”

Professor Hope agreed: “I believe we are on the right road because we are beginning to acknowledge mental health… People can still be successful and need help. At the end of the day, we’re all just humans. I think entertainers who are struggling need to come out and publicly say, I am going through this, and it’s okay. We need to utilise the resources set aside to help with these specific issues.”

PLAYFAIR-SCOTT… artistes may fear losing credibility, fans, or career opportunities if they admit struggles (Photo: Naphtali Junior)