Opening Up About Our Mental Health

We're not experts in mental health, but as musicians who have experienced mental health issues, we hope by making this video, we can help encourage people to talk about this topic more openly, and remove the social stigma associated with mental illnesses.

If you're struggling with anything we mentioned, please reach out to friends or family members that you trust, or seek professional help.

Here are some resources that might help you:
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S N A P C H A T: Brettybang | Eddy.Chen

[twosetviolin]

Thank you all so much for the kind comments and for sharing all your stories. Also, we wanted to make a small correction. It's easy to become psychologically reliant on beta blockers, but they're not physically addictive. Thanks a lot to those who pointed this out in the comments!

[Lydianime]

My mom was a professional performing violist and teacher. She quit before she had me, and told me years later "If someone quit being a classical musician, it was never because of the music."

[Egglyca]

Did you guys notice that Brett and Eddy did not wear their merch. Instead just a solid black and greyish-white t-shirt. That’s when you know they ain’t messing.

[bekkison]

I'm a physical therapist in the US, and if anyone is interested, what Eddy experienced is called conversion disorder. It is a very real psychological phenomenon where the body manifests physical disability originating from stress, anxiety, and depression. This is sadly an often overlooked diagnosis and many are written off as being fakers, adding to the stigma that is mental illness. And for anyone still on the fence about this, think of a food that gave you food poisoning or the alcohol you got ridiculously hung over on. Do you feel nauseous? Yes? You just experienced a physical response based on a memory in your head. Conversion disorder is like that, but at a much deeper level mentally and more severe in it's physical presentation.

[Wann-zornqni]

Do you realize how lucky you 2 are to have each other? The way you look at each other when talking about such a personal issue just makes me wish I have a friend like that too.

[annale]

“The voice inside your head is just an annoying roommate. Just let them talk and they’ll calm down”.
It really helps

[ipsharoy]

Our musician friends are talking about a very important topic which everyone should pay attention to. Stop with your practise and listen.

[thiennhan]

After watching this video, I'm so glad that Brett and Eddy have met each other. When Eddy was in his worst time, Brett was there, consoled him and Brett was also the first friend Eddy informed that he was getting better. Eddy recognized what was happening with Brett recently as well. So for everyone out there, and for me too, i hope that we will always appreciate the one that love us, stay beside us ( it could be your friend, family, pets and even your trees :>) And for you guys, who feel like they dont even have corner to release the stress, you have this comment, you can tell me your story. As a stranger, i wouldn't know what to tell you, but i still love you, and this Ling Ling community will love you too. I also feel so grateful that i have found this Youtube channel, it is just not ridiculous, it is the most wholesome channel and Ling Ling is the most heart warming community,

[flutechannel]

We need to be taught more about general brain health and how the brain and body are connected and need rest and doesn't work well in a monoculture lifestyle (ie: only practicing or over practicing). We're put with loads of stress in music and I try to tell people to do meditation or cardiac coherience and make sleep the #1 priority. The brain needs time to digest the day and it does that during sleep. I hope we all can share our tips and make our music lifestyle more healthy.

[tasha]

"People aren't listening to judge your mistakes... they are listening to music, so give them music" ~ My violin teacher <333

[michelleikoma]

This is not just a musician issue, it is a society issue. Very important topic.

[Winry]

So, I don't know if you will ever read this, but I wanted to say thank you. I come from a third-world country with limited access to certain things. This includes classical music. I started learning to play the violin at the age of 9 and loved it so much that I wanted to continue studying classical music after high school.

Almost 11 years ago, I went to university intending to pursue a double major. One of those majors was in music. I assumed that university would be a perfect place to grow as a musician. I was right, but only to an extent. You see, I learned that (as the professor would word it) "my skills were so poor, there was no way I could ever be considered as a music major". I came to realize that for the 9 years I spent learning the instrument, my teacher had not been a very good one. There were skills and information I should have learned that I never did. My level at the time was comparatively low for a college musician.

I never blamed the university for this. If I had a better-trained teacher growing up, I wouldn't have been in this mess in the first place. Still, I was determined to get into this program. I loved music and desperately wanted to improve. So, when they offered to accept me as a probational student, I agreed.

By the end of the school year, I was kicked out of the program. Despite their lessons, I still wasn't good enough. I spent the next 2 years as a music minor, taking classes to improve my skills. By the end of my third year, I passed the audition and was finally accepted as a music major. I was happy, but only for a time. You see, I had endured quite a bit of bullying by a few music majors during this time, and when I became accepted as a music major, the bullying extended to some of the professors.

I won't go into much detail here about what I went through, but it was absolute hell. My already high level of anxiety and depression spiked. My self-esteem plummeted. I was told things like "the only reason why I took you in as a student is because the department chair begged me to". Eventually, I had a breakdown and was forced to see a therapist on campus. Despite all of this, I pushed through, and in my 5th year of undergrad (yeah...still did the double major), I performed a successful senior recital. Professor (surprisingly) expressed pride in me. I was proud of myself too. 

I continued playing in the school's orchestra while working on my masters in the other major, but with time, the trauma of it all came back to haunt me. I found myself playing violin and piano increasingly less than before. Now, it's a struggle to even touch the instrument. I get literal panic attacks from seeing masterclasses now. My mental health is a wreck. But people made it seem like I was being dramatic...that I should be over this by now.

So, seeing you talk about mental health and its impact on the classical music community made me really happy. Thank you for being willing to bring topics like these to the surface. Things like this matter to so many of us. I'm sorry this was so long. I don't know if you will even read this, but I wanted to share just how and why you impacted me so much. I definitely look forward to seeing what else you come out with. ❤️

[MenacingNoodle]

A good friend of mine attended uni for viola performance. After less than a year, she stood on the roof of a tall building, toes over the edge, and seriously considered ending it. In that moment, she knew that she couldn't continue and switched to something else. It's now several years later, and I don't think she's touched her viola since. Which is a shame, because let me tell you, I played in several concerts with her and she played beautifully.

[colintamiya]

Given the range that TwoSet have in their audience worldwide, this might be one of their most important videos for young and ambitious musicians.
I don't see this awareness and support come in universities very soon. I rather have the impression, overambitious university teachers play a huge role in raising the pressure on their students.

[thomaskehl]

I'm a psychologist and I must say that this video is too precious. We need to stop pretending that mental health is a taboo and be open about it. Thanks for the courage to bring it up!
Oh! And I must commend by how mindful and carefull you guys were about that.

[dearmatt]

This feels like a full circle moment. I used to be in youth orchestra with you guys - even shared a teacher with Ed. I legitimately burnt out mentally before going to conservatory and had a shift in career trajectory . This is all so real. Thanks for opening up the discussion on this.

[SnorrioK]

Psychosomatic pain is what Eddy was talking about, it's there but it isn't there.
It's also worth mentioning that my funniest friend is one of the happiest people I've met. Came as a shock to me when he was admitted to a psych-ward for a few weeks. The humor was a defense mechanism for his anxieties that caused a massive depression. Happiness and humour is not the equivalence of being without depression; if anything, it's often a marker that the person is depressed but has become very good at hiding it. Also, when a depressed person is being talked to, they get to forget their problems for a wee bit and show off a bit of their funny thoughts which looks like complete happiness to others.

[orlyyap]

At this point Twoset is one of my emotional support pillars honestly

[stevecochrane]

I have been a musician for over 40 years now, I cannot believe that you two young guys have acquired so much wisdom and humanity already. I spent years on the competition boards and can totally relate to all the darkness that comes with it. I was lucky and eventually found my way out, but Jesus, I wish that I had seen this video back in the 1980's. You lads are GOLDEN.

[lauradasilvaribeiro]

I cried while watching this. I'm having such a hard time with life in general at the moment and all of the things you've spoken about are things I've told myself over and over. I'm not a musician, I'm a writer but it stands. Being alone.... The spiraling of your thoughts... its like you carved this straight out of my brain. Thank you for talking about it and even if this never gets seen at least I got it off my chest. It's hard. It's so hard.
It's also safer to comment here than anywhere else, tbh

Edit: why am I getting likes? No one was supposed to even see this!