A guitarist in Austin cancelled a Sunday load-in last month. He had a checkup instead. Doctors found a spine, two lungs and a rotator cuff in active use since 2011.
I run the study following six local musicians onto subsidized marketplace plans. That is insurance a nonprofit helps pay for. The finding is severe. These people now believe their bodies are real.
One drummer asked about the noise in his left ear. He had assumed it was part of the mix. It was not. He has now heard the word "audiologist" and cannot unhear it.
"I thought pain was just the cost of the ticket," one bassist in our group told us. "Now I have a folder."
We held six others as a comparison group. They stayed uninsured and continued to treat every symptom as a personality trait. They report no folders and no appointments. They are, by their own account, fine.
