Finding Purpose in the Inquiry
Mental Health.
Yes a scary topic for many of us, even for people in the arts who so often are described as having free expression, whether that be through movement, voice, film, painting, writing..... well the list goes on.
Do people really know about the hidden battles performers have with their own self confidence and body positivity. Probably not! because lets face it when the curtains go up the audience is greeted with a spotlight on a character who breaks into a tap number, a ballad or a shake spear monologue. This person must seem on the outside would never appear to have any mental health issues as they scream confidence on a stage.
Take away the character, the lights and the audience, and what do we have, a real person who it just at work like every other human that does their 9 to 5 job, this performer is in effect 'just' doing their version of a 9 to 5.
So why do many performers struggle with anxiety and body dysmorphia? Are we putting to much pressure on ourselves to because the perfect versions of the character we are trying to become, the dancer we are aspiring to look like and the ballad singer with the best belt?
We know that during professional training you can be pushed to our limits, and although this is not necessarily a bad thing, can everyone cope? I have seen many peers and colleagues during productions that have dealt with these mental health disorders, I did notice that the support wasn't always there for them. The phrase "the show must go on" should not always apply, in other forms of work you do not always have to be as happy or necessary as hard working as the day before. In a performance however, the dreaded notes on how you did in the show would come after, and you know if a note you sang was of key or you looked as though you were performing with a lack of energy, you would be told to practice and improve for next time?
We are all different and the way we deal with stress and pressure will also be different. Take the situation we are all in now. The whole world in a lock down and it is 100% a stressful situation with its own pressure and anxiety surrounding it for many. Just in one house hold the way people react to this is very different. Some people will hide away in their room and wait for it to all blow over, others will become extra busy learning millions of new skills, some will look at the news first thing and fill themselves with worry and many and I am envious will be truly fine and have accepted the situation.
So there it is, how can we expect performers to deal with pressure perfectly, all these emotions are normal in a stressful situation. How can it be helped? and Does the industry provide the necessary support regarding anxiety and body dysmorphia?
Now I know this is a sensitive topic, and many would not want to talk about it, however I believe many would want to help in my inquiry. "Does the performing arts industry contribute to performers having mental health disorders, specifically body dysmorphia and anxiety?"
My next step is to delve into why a performer would want to answer questions on this topic and find the purpose for the inquiry in more detail.
Yes a scary topic for many of us, even for people in the arts who so often are described as having free expression, whether that be through movement, voice, film, painting, writing..... well the list goes on.
Do people really know about the hidden battles performers have with their own self confidence and body positivity. Probably not! because lets face it when the curtains go up the audience is greeted with a spotlight on a character who breaks into a tap number, a ballad or a shake spear monologue. This person must seem on the outside would never appear to have any mental health issues as they scream confidence on a stage.
Take away the character, the lights and the audience, and what do we have, a real person who it just at work like every other human that does their 9 to 5 job, this performer is in effect 'just' doing their version of a 9 to 5.
So why do many performers struggle with anxiety and body dysmorphia? Are we putting to much pressure on ourselves to because the perfect versions of the character we are trying to become, the dancer we are aspiring to look like and the ballad singer with the best belt?
We know that during professional training you can be pushed to our limits, and although this is not necessarily a bad thing, can everyone cope? I have seen many peers and colleagues during productions that have dealt with these mental health disorders, I did notice that the support wasn't always there for them. The phrase "the show must go on" should not always apply, in other forms of work you do not always have to be as happy or necessary as hard working as the day before. In a performance however, the dreaded notes on how you did in the show would come after, and you know if a note you sang was of key or you looked as though you were performing with a lack of energy, you would be told to practice and improve for next time?
We are all different and the way we deal with stress and pressure will also be different. Take the situation we are all in now. The whole world in a lock down and it is 100% a stressful situation with its own pressure and anxiety surrounding it for many. Just in one house hold the way people react to this is very different. Some people will hide away in their room and wait for it to all blow over, others will become extra busy learning millions of new skills, some will look at the news first thing and fill themselves with worry and many and I am envious will be truly fine and have accepted the situation.
So there it is, how can we expect performers to deal with pressure perfectly, all these emotions are normal in a stressful situation. How can it be helped? and Does the industry provide the necessary support regarding anxiety and body dysmorphia?
Now I know this is a sensitive topic, and many would not want to talk about it, however I believe many would want to help in my inquiry. "Does the performing arts industry contribute to performers having mental health disorders, specifically body dysmorphia and anxiety?"
My next step is to delve into why a performer would want to answer questions on this topic and find the purpose for the inquiry in more detail.
Hi Molly, a good and down to earth post. I see you will be collecting sensitive data, is Adesola aware of this? She told me that you should not be collecting sensitive data but ask more open-ended and broad questions. How will you go about your data collection? Your question is well worded and powerful, but I wonder if it is too specific, and pinpoints only to body dysmorphia and anxiety. I know you did this with purpose, as you are most passionate about discovering those two aspects of mental health, but it's just a thought. I am also basing my inquiry along the lines of mental health. My question is:
ReplyDeleteHow much resilience do dancers have to maintain a healthy mind and body?
Hi Serina, during the MORE form process myself and Adesola discussed if it would be classed as sensitive data, I have worded my questions for the online annonymous survey so they are presented in past tense e.g. Have you ever felt sever anxiety before a performance? I am therefore not directly asking if someone has the disorder, but inquiring if they have felt some impact in the past from performing on their mental state surrounding these disorders? I have also included question on if they would know who to contact if they needed support in the industry. I feel that this will aid my inquiry as it will give me better insight into not only the way performing can effect you mental health but also the care that performers can receive if necessary.
ReplyDeleteI find that our inquiries will have some cross of data and information, it will be interesting to see the correlation between our results from the inquiry process.