Damien Powell says music never truly resonated with him while he was growing up – until he discovered Ozzy Osbourne and Black Sabbath.
The music, he said, possessed “a darkness and an honesty to it that had eluded me up until that point”.
“From then on, I leaned into metal as a way of dealing with complex emotions I had previously avoided, such as anger, sadness and isolation,” he added.
“Listening to really angry music made me feel less angry.”
His experiences, and those of others, will be examined as part of England’s first Healing Arts event taking place in Birmingham.
A discussion between advocates of the metal community and the city’s public health officials will hear the current global research on the positive links between heavy metal music and mental health.
Powell, 27, who has a diagnosis of complex post-traumatic stress disorder, said the music had allowed him to better process emotions, enabling him to control anger an deal with sadness.
“The music made me feel seen,” he added.