Jody Gerson and Phil Schermer were on hand to discuss the intersection of music, technology and mental health at Variety‘s Entertainment and Technology Summit in Los Angeles yesterday, discussing how attitudes have shifted towards mental health and its destigmatization.
Schermer discussed his work as founder and CEO of Project Healthy Minds, a non-profit that addresses the barriers to finding mental health care and offers tools to make accessing services easier. Gerson, CEO and Chairman of Universal Music Publishing Group, sits on the board of directors for Project Healthy Minds, and appeared at the Summit to discuss the growing focus on mental health in the music space.
“There’s a whole level of artists now who don’t go the distance, don’t need to be superstars, because they have to take care of their mental health first,” said Gerson. “And there are bunch of artists who recognize what their limitations are, and they’re going, you know what? That’s too much for me. I can’t do that. It’s not good for my mental health. And I think that’s the change that I’ve seen. They’re outspoken about how they feel. I think that’s gonna change the way people see mental health and how they’re treated.”
Schermer, who launched Project Healthy Minds in 2020, noted that there are 65 million Americans with a mental health condition, and that 60 percent of them never get any form of care due to either stigma or lack of access.
“Our whole vision is there should be a front door on the Internet for finding mental health care, where all the services are vetted by clinicians,” he said. Project Healthy Minds offers a mental health marketplace that allows users to access the care that they need. The organization has partnered with musicians including Demi Lovato and the Kid Laroi to help get the message out about their services.
“The idea is to be able to show people and fans that artists and entertainment companies are partnering with Project Healthy Minds to help connect people to care,” he said. “And the amazing thing is we can see all the data. Every time we do one of these partnerships, thousands of people start seeking care immediately and we see, well, what kind of care are they searching for and what do they need? And to us, it’s an amazing way to see the impact.”
Project Healthy Minds will next stage its World Mental Health Day Gala on Oct. 9 in New York. Prince Harry and Meghan, Duke and Duchess of Sussex, will be honored with the Humanitarians of the Year award.
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source variety.com ’
