Recommendations — Sounds of Saving

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1	With a mission for promoting mental health and well-being within and around the music industry, Sounds of Saving is a non-profit that creates videos, experiences, and events to provide awareness, education, resources, and direct paths to treatment—especially for youth and marginalized communities.
2	Research shows that when details of positive coping during crisis are presented through media, it has a protective quality for those experiencing suicidal ideation and encourages help-seeking and hopefulness. This contagion of hope is known as the Papageno effect—the impact that media can have by presenting non-suicide alternatives to crisis. From labyrinth wandering to dim showers to explicit healthcare directories—Varyer asked the folks behind SoS put together a comprehensive list of recommendations for those struggling with mental health.
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12	Sit on a bench with a friend. Maybe talk. Maybe don’t.
13						Shower in dim lighting. Candles ideal but a lamp with a warm lightbulb (no fluorescents 🙅‍♀️) does the trick too.
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22							Find a labyrinth near you. Walk it. Walk it again.
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25	Get on your nearest public transit—subway, bus, trolley. Take some inspiration from these seniors in South Korea and spend a day riding to the end of the line and back, to the end of the line and back.
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30		Play an instrument. You don't know how? That's ok, just mess around and make it up. Don’t have an instrument? Wrong. Anything can be an instrument.
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35				Listen to a community playlist — this “Songs That Found Me At The Right Time” playlist is a compilation of songs that have helped people cope during tough times. Find a new song, make friends with it. Add your tender-hearted songs to the playlist by emailing cassie@soundsofsaving.com
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38		Go on a mission for the hell of it. Find the best taco in your city. Play Pacman. Discover a wholesale fabric vendor. Plant flowers in a public place. Invest in a tooth gem.
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50			Put on your wildest pop star outfit. Perform into a hairbrush. The audience of dust mites and microscopic creatures that live in your home will give a roaring applause, you just might not hear it. Thank them for coming out tonight anyway.
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54							Watch the Jay Z episode of My Next Guest Needs No Introduction With David Letterman
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58					Find some local mental health resources in your city via the Sounds of Saving mental healthcare directory. Your city’s not listed? Email cassie@soundsofsaving.com and we’ll curate a list of resources for you stat.
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60					Need some hyper-personalized help in your search for care? Reach out to our friends at Backline—they connect music industry professionals, from band members to promoters, with care suited for an individual’s specific needs.
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63	Call a friend. No response? Call another one. Convince them to go see the band playing at the local club. They can’t make it? Go anyway. You’ll make new friends there.
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