Baker and Brown present both sides of an ongoing argument about whether heavy metal causes suicide and self-harm or if people who are more likely to commit suicide or self-harm use heavy metal to survive. Heavy metal, as well as other non-mainstream music genres, have been blamed for the rebellious and delinquent behaviors of youth as well as some youths desire to self-harm or commit suicide. While this article goes over the beliefs of heavy metal having a negative impact on listeners, Baker and Brown focus on reasons to think otherwise. They continue on discussing how listeners believe that heavy metal helps them purge themselves of all the negative feelings they have and find the music uplifting. They also discuss that maybe it isn’t the music, but the issues children are now having to face in life and that they are more stressed out than they used to be.…show more content… A lot of heavy metal and other rock subgenres in general focus on suicide and self-harming in their lyrics as they often went through the same experiences as listeners, allowing fans to feel a connection to the music. Also, if these musicians can survive, maybe it can help others survive negative mental health as well. There is also what Baker and Brown consider a protective element to metal because these musicians that fans idolize, discuss strength, suffering, and survival, and they eventually turned their negativity into something positive. It is also relieving that these idols will talk about self-harming and suicide on such a public platform can be relieving to those that feel ashamed of themselves. As long time heavy metal fans and chief psychologist researchers at both of their research institutions, Baker and Brown wanted to show the positive affects heavy metal has on fans and not all the negative beliefs media has placed on the
