Fatboy Slim - 'music is my therapy'
Having had his own mental health problems, Fatboy Slim believes music has an important role in helping people recover.
Norman Cook - or Fatboy Slim, as he's more widely known - is a legendary British DJ and music producer. With hits like Praise You and The Rockafeller Skank, Fatboy Slim popularised big beat in the 1990s. He helped disprove the idea that dance music couldn't sell albums, and worked to establish modern DJ culture. But alongside the huge success he's enjoyed, he believes music has helped him tremendously with his mental health journey. And now, he's kicked off a programme of music workshops for people with severe mental illness in Hove, East Sussex. The programme is being supported by Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust and NHS charity Heads On. It's designed to give people who've spent a long time in hospital a chance to interact with others in the local community and try something new and different.
For 5 Minutes On, the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ's Annabel Rackham heads to a DJ lesson hosted by Fatboy Slim - the first in a series of workshops bridging the gap between the experience of severe mental illness and arts and creativity. The session was attended by senior NHS mental health staff who are looking at whether music workshops like this could be rolled out across the UK.
Image Credit: Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ News
