‘Saved my life’: how music fandoms help Gen Z with mental health and feeling connection

Growing up in the US state of New Jersey, Jessica Sikora felt different from other children. Her traditional, religious Filipino parents imposed strict rules and curfews. “My parents pulled a lot of their traditional Asian parenting from their own upbringing,” the now 34-year-old says, which was often at odds with the more relaxed American parenting style. She was not allowed to go to sleepovers and missed out on social gatherings, making it hard to make friends. “By age 13, I was depressed. I was stuck at home; I was struggling,” she says. She was regularly self-harming and attempted suicide three times before she was 17. Her parents did not believe in therapy. “They suggested I pray instead,” she says. Stuck in her room night after night, she turned to music as a crutch. “I would listen on my old-fashioned desktop computer non-stop; I relied on it.” She followed many bands, but it was the Jonas Brothers she “fell in love with” early on. “It was almost like they were my friends. I knew every lyric, and I felt they understood me, even though I knew they didn’t know my name,” she says. Sikora was bullied at school, with classmates calling her “the Jonas Brothers’ stalker”, but she was given the hope she needed from the band’s online fandom. “It was a community that saved my life,” she says. “Talking to other fans kept me here.” She would set herself milestones, such as to “stay alive for another month for when the Jonas Brothers are going on tour”. From Taylor Swift’s Swifties and Lady Gaga’s Little Monsters to Blackpink’s Blinks and the BTS Army, pop music superfandom subculture is a way for an anxious Gen Z to connect through a shared language in a non-judgemental environment. A 2025 survey by sport and entertainment company AEG Global Partnerships found 70 per cent of 3,000 British adults felt “at home” at live music events among fellow fans, with more than 53 per cent of those asked saying they felt more understood by fellow fans at concerts than by people in their everyday lives. The survey also found that Gen Z fans are the most likely age group to become superfans. In Hong Kong, the Eaton HK hotel has embraced music as a tool to promote mental health. It hosts the month-long biennial Consciousness Festival, which brings together musicians, artists, scientists, therapists and social advocates. “The idea stemmed from a community need for physical, mental and spiritual well-being to challenge societal norms around mental health and vulnerability,” says Joseph Chen, Eaton HK’s director of culture. The next festival will take place in November 2027. As well as offering a community lifeline, music is a proven stress reliever. The Hong Kong Music Therapy Association (HKMTA), a non-profit organisation established in 1995, has helped hundreds of clients feel better. According to the HKMTA, music is shown to increase positive emotions as it “affects brain structures such as the amygdala and the mesolimbic reward system, which play a role in emotional and motivational processes”. It can also reduce cortisol levels and lower heart rate and blood pressure. Our teenage years are notoriously difficult, compounded these days by smartphone usage and, for many young people, feelings of isolation. When Sikora graduated from university, she set out to help this demographic. “What if I could help people like me not feel alone, and give them a space they can call home?” She set up a Tumblr account to announce her theory that music and fandoms can save lives. She shared her own story and, almost overnight, drew thousands of followers and received messages from people who felt the same way. “It was the proof I needed,” Sikora says. While working a corporate job in the pharmaceutical industry, she created a platform called Superbands. “Though I am not a mental health professional … I am the professional fangirl who grew up. I know what it is like to know every fact about your favourite band member’s childhood,” she says. While mental health platforms and NGOs have proliferated in recent years, Sikora believes they have missed a critical audience with music fandoms. View this post on Instagram A post shared by superbands | music x mental health (@wearesuperbands) “They focus on crisis and clinical [work], but I think there is a gap. Fandom really is important for mental health – you can have therapy once a week, but many young people listen to music all day, every day,” she says. “It gives a sense of hope, belonging, community, identity. Fandom is prevention.” Disruptive and “native to Gen Z”, the Superbands platform acts as a peer-support bridge rather than a replacement for professional mental health treatment. It has a presence on social media platforms such as Instagram, TikTok and X, as well as at concerts. “That’s the language we speak to feel authentic to fans. We live in the world they exist in.” Superbands also organises campaigns to make mental health more of an everyday topic of conversation. It launched the Loud and Clear campaign in partnership with American independent record label Hopeless Records during Mental Health Awareness Month in 2025, providing a safe space for young people to express intense emotional connections to music without being judged as “obsessive” or “crazy”. Commenting on the campaign on the Superbands site, Alyssa, 19, said it “reminded me that I’m not alone and that feeling deeply for a band I love was not something I needed to hide”. Superbands shares survivor stories on social media and organises giveaways of artist-signed guitars. It collaborated with Michael Clifford, lead guitarist and co-vocalist of the Australian pop-rock band 5 Seconds of Summer, who was quoted as saying: “Real bands save fans. Real fans save bands.” Superbands also supports the Songs That Saved My Life campaign by Hopeless Records. The platform features the stories of artists sharing their own mental health issues during difficult times and the music that helped them through. In one, singer-songwriter Travis Clark from We The Kings describes how the Coldplay song “Fix You” helped him after a bad break-up. “The lyrics of the song resonated in a way that only music can do,” he said in a clip. Superbands is building a suite of digital tools specific to the fan experience. First up is a QR code tool that will be introduced to help with the “comedown” many concertgoers experience after a performance. Later this month, Los Angeles pop-rock band Senses will promote a campaign called Stick With Me, where fans will be asked to submit things “worth sticking around for” and a voice recording describing something that gives them hope. Later this month, Los Angeles pop-rock band Senses will promote a campaign called Stick With Me, where fans are asked: “What are you sticking around for?” Fans can submit their answers as short voice recordings or written notes via the Superbands website and social media accounts. The submissions will go live on September 1 for people around the world to listen to and draw support from. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Hopeless Records (@hopelessrecords) Sikora says: “I want to be able to make this change in the mental health world. Music really can save lives, and the biggest proof of that is that I’m still here today.” If you have suicidal thoughts or know someone who is experiencing them, help is available. In Hong Kong, dial +852 2896 0000 for The Samaritans or +852 2382 0000 for Suicide Prevention Services. In the US, call or text 988 or chat at 988lifeline.org for the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline. For a list of other nations’ helplines, see this page. Like what you read? Follow SCMP Lifestyle on Instagram. You can also sign up for our eNewsletter here.

‘Saved my life’: how music fandoms help Gen Z with mental health and feeling connection

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Studies show fan communities for Blackpink and other groups are about more than music. One mum’s online platform is leading the charge

Studies show fan communities for Blackpink and other groups are about more than music. One mum’s online platform is leading the charge