Food for thought

One consequence of the Covid pandemic has been a rise in mental health issues in many industry sectors. How have violin makers been affected – and what support is there for them?

CARLO ALBERTO MAGAGNINI

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In lutherie, as in other professions, there has been a tendency to acknowledge and discuss the physical demands of the craft but overlook the mental health challenges of the occupation. No one can ignore the population-level mental health impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic, however. A study published by The Lancet in October 2021 estimated that in 2020 major depressive disorder and anxiety disorders increased in prevalance globally by around 25 per cent on pre-pandemic levels, and together caused nearly 95 million disability-adjusted life years, or years lost due to ill health, disability or early death (bit.ly/3rf4Xc7).

During the pandemic, luthiers have lost the social and educational sustenance of trade events, conventions, competitions and courses, and some makers have lost income, clients or commissions.

But setting aside these situational risks to mental well-being, violin making as a profession has inherent mental health challenges that should not be underestimated, suggests Wai Yong Tham, a luthier in Singapore who worked as a consultant psychiatrist before setting up her workshop in 2017: ‘Remaining mentally healthy in lutherie is not for the fainthearted. The risk factors include a preponderance of perfectionism and obsessional traits; social isolation, which has been worsened by Covid; and a lack of margin for error when working on “high-profile” instruments, or your own instruments in the closing stages, where an error can erase a month’s worth of work. When finishing an instrument, sometimes our mistakes are all we see, even though others can’t.

Financial stress is another independent risk factor on top of these other concerns.’

The coping strategies used by luthiers in the face of such challenges range from the practical to the holistic, says Tham: ‘Protective factors include having trusted colleagues and mentors – the kind you can confide in about problems and mistakes; a financial safety net, usually in the form of a spouse or partner with regular income; and good self-care routines such as meditation, faith, exercise, connecting with nature, and social contact.’

Although violin makers may be used to working in isolation, the pandemic has had a major impact on continuing education and on opportunities to socialise with colleagues from around the world.

‘The inability to meet in person at conventions and competitions has been a big issue,’ says luthier Julian Cossmann Cooke from Austin, Texas. ‘The virtual substitute is better than nothing, but it’s not as meaningful in terms of maintaining a healthy mindset.’ As good as in-person events are for boosting the mood of participants, Cossmann Cooke, who has bipolar depression, hopes that such gatherings will also foster more openness towards discussing mental health issues. ‘Violin Society of America conventions have featured programmed events discussing the physical challenges of the craft, such as repetitive strain injury (RSI), but so far there has not been the same focus on mental health,’ he says. ‘There’s a general reluctance in society to talk about the issue, and so there are bound to be some people in the trade who think that “you should just work through it” or that conventions are not the place to talk about these kinds of things.

‘There are bound to be people in the trade who think “you should just work through it”’ – Luthier Julian Cossmann Cooke

I hope that attitude changes across the board.’

Focusing on lutherie’s physical challenges without addressing mental health also ignores the fact that, as Cossmann Cooke points out, mental illness is often comorbid with chronic physical conditions: ‘Depression, for example, can accompany physical disease or illness because those physical issues place limits on what we can get done at the bench.’ He adds: ‘As in larger society, there are also folks in the trade who have mental health issues such as anxiety but also have attention deficit disorder (ADD), obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) or are on the autism spectrum. These people face challenges on two fronts.’

One maker and restorer who has OCD and anxiety explains: ‘There are different flavours of OCD but what I struggle with is checking things, so I’ll keep asking myself, “Is that glue pot shut off?” or, “Is that clamp too tight?” When I’m working in a shop, I’ll try not to be the last one to leave for the day, so I don’t have the responsibility of checking everything is switched off. It can become difficult for me as a maker and restorer to let go and move on to the next step. Instead of seeing that I’ve achieved a professional result, I feel as if I have to keep trying to make things better.’

With the onset of the pandemic she found her anxiety and OCD were eased by being able to work at home. She says: ‘I’ve had anxiety attacks throughout my life but I feel very relaxed and protected when I’m alone doing new making in my home workshop, so the first few months of lockdown were amazing because I didn’t have to leave the house. But when I had to go back into the shop, and the staggered work schedules meant I had to be there on my own, the OCD triggers came back. And everyone in general seemed stressed, which sent my anxiety levels up.’

Today, she feels that overall, through the course of the pandemic her OCD symptoms have improved. She also hopes that the shared experience of the past two years will bring more openness towards discussing mental health: ‘Maybe because the whole situation made a lot of people suddenly experience the kind of anxiety issues that I’m used to dealing with, there will be more willingness now to talk about mental health challenges.’