Conjuring Up Nimble Solutions to Mental Health Woes Facing Musicians, A Guest Post by Bethany Bultman
August 14th, 2008 by Loki(Here is a guest post from my friend Bethany Butman, President and CEO of the New Orleans Musicians’ Clinic. She is a dynamic force for good in the city and I am proud that she was kind enought to write this for us. -Loki, HumidCity Founder)
New Orleans’ warm, erotic humid climate, the wild foliage, the sensuous aroma of sweet olives and rifts of Jazz and funk combine to evoke a unique place and a culture, not unsympathetic to the weaknesses of the flesh. At The New Orleans Musicians Clinic (NOMC est. 1998), the United States’ only comprehensive health clinic for musicians, we are faced with sustaining a unique population during the hard times we all wrestle with since the 2005 floods.
For more than ten years, we have proudly served a “challenging’ population of musicians who personify a cluster of characteristics including “creative” and “sensitive” with shades of “deviant” and “non-conforming.” Add to this a predilection for risky behavior and a lifestyle with a wide acceptance (and even reliance) on illicit drugs, alcohol and sex. And lastly, a historical low priority on personal health and a distrust of conventional medical care. Although New Orleans musicians are celebrated around the world, at home they have a history of living hand to mouth, outside mainstream social and economic systems. Many of them pride themselves in existing in a cash-only economy, not having a bank account or paying taxes. Hence they are in effect excluded from the American health care delivery system. Read the rest of this entry »
