64. Gavin Higgins: Tourettes, OCD and surviving opera

Things Musicians Don't Talk About

Composer Gavin Higgins found that music was the only thing calmed his severe facial tics as a young kid. After an assessment at the Maudsley Hospital, Gavin was diagnosed with Tourettes and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. He was put on Prozac and told to snap a rubber band on his wrist to take away his intrusive thoughts.

A lot has changed in the treatment of mental illnesses, but what's the reality behind living with two severe conditions as an award-winning composer? And why is Gavin so determined to raise awareness? Hattie and Gavin chat in this episode about OCD, Tourettes, generational OCD themes, trauma from writing an opera, the industry as it stands and how things need to change.

Find Gavin's website here

And his Instagram

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Things Musicians Don't Talk About is now supported by the Royal Society of Musicians!

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Editor: Hattie Butterworth

Music: Katy Ehrlich

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