The Black Sabbath bassist says he suffered from the disease his entire life, but was only properly diagnosed at age 50
The Pan American Health Organization estimates that more than 300 million people suffer from depression worldwide. In Brazil, data from the World Health Organization (WHO) shows that more than 11 million citizens have the disease – more than 5% of the population.
It is a health problem that needs to be treated seriously. However, second That old butlerit hasn’t always been this way.
The bassist said to Talk in store live (go Chatty) which took a long time to be diagnosed correctly because, in decades past, people treated depression as simple sadness, to be resolved with elementary measures. He says:
Unless you’ve experienced real depression, you can’t describe it. It’s like you end up in a horrible black hole. And people would say, “Oh, go get a drink or take the dog for a walk.” That’s what the doctors said. ‘well, go watch TV or read a book’.”
If it were that easy, Butler and millions of other patients would have been cured. The legendary heavy metal bassist points out that this was obviously not the case. So his refuge became music.
You obviously have no interest in any of this. So the only way I could express myself was to write lyrics ‘Paranoid’ (music by Black Saturday). I wasn’t always depressed, but when I had bouts of depression I just couldn’t explain it to anyone. I was afraid to go to a mental health professional and they would put you in a mental institution, in a hospital, for years. You had to move on. And the only way to get it out of me was to write music.”
Geezer Butler and depression
He is now 75 years old, That old butler He was only correctly diagnosed with depression in 1999. He was 50 years old at the time. He comments:
In 1999 the diagnosis was finally correct and I was prescribed an antidepressant for six weeks. And the doctor said, “It won’t work right away.” Continue taking it for six weeks and eventually you will start to feel normal again.’ And I said, ‘Well, what’s normal?’ After six weeks, this great cloud seemed to dissipate. It was fantastic.”
In another interview, with Bullseye with Jesse Thornthe bassist of Black Saturday He said he sometimes felt “occasional bouts” of depression. However, this happened for decades, until he found a doctor who finally managed to find his medical condition.
I couldn’t tell anyone about it. People thought I was moody and unhappy. They said, ‘Well, what’s wrong with you? What happened to you?’. But nothing bad had happened. Then they said, ‘You have all the money you want, a house, cars and everything. What’s wrong with you? Rejoice.’ They couldn’t understand that this wasn’t the case at all. You can have everything you could want in the world, but when you get into those dark, depressing days, nothing matters.”
Butler However, he guarantees that he was not ashamed of his condition. He was just angry that he wasn’t understood.
If you’re a rock star or something, if you’re in a band, you should be a happy person, with everything at your disposal. It’s like I can’t be depressed. It was hard to accept that and admit that this was my reality. And it was just a one-time thing. I wasn’t always depressed. But once I entered those black holes, I could never get out. And only when I was diagnosed with the disease did I finally find a way out.”
+++READ MORE: Black Sabbath: The band’s best album, according to Geezer Butler
Source: Terra
Earl Johnson is a music writer at Gossipify, known for his in-depth analysis and unique perspective on the industry. A graduate of USC with a degree in Music, he brings years of experience and passion to his writing. He covers the latest releases and trends, always on the lookout for the next big thing in music.
