Metal Anarchy

During an interview on The Void With Christina, Slipknot frontman Corey Taylor opened up about his battle with manic depression. According to him, “the biggest thing that people don’t understand is the numbness that comes with it.”

Taylor said the following when asked about being open about his mental health struggles:

“It’s interesting. I never realized — because you know me; I’ve always been very outspoken about everything — and I never realized that it was such a stigma, to be honest. It was a line that you really didn’t cross or you didn’t admit to, especially somebody in my profession or whatever, or people kind of used it as a buzzword. They never really talked about it eloquently or very openly. So when I first started kind of opening it up about it, the response was quite extraordinary — people just were, like, ‘You gave me the courage to kind of open up about it on my own and really kind of talk to the people who I care about about what was affecting me.’ And that, in a weird way, helped me with the communication with my loved ones, ’cause I felt like, yeah, I was being very open about it in the press and whatnot, but then I wasn’t able to really kind of expound about it with the people who it was actually affecting. And the second that I really kind of put my money where my mouth is, it became such a game changer for me. So it, really, in a weird way, it was the fans who helped me really open up even more about it. It was almost this cyclic kind of vibe that I didn’t expect.”

Taylor also talked about battling manic depression:

“It’s interesting. For me, I think the biggest thing that people don’t understand is the numbness that comes with it, especially when the physical side of it hits you and it becomes that slog, that almost impossible slog to just be alive or to be human. It’s something that you just can’t describe to people unless they’ve been in it. And, obviously, there are people who have had bouts of depression, but don’t have the physical, the manic depression who can kind of understand it because of the emptiness, once the void hits, so they can kind of empathize in a weird way. But anyone who’s never really kind of felt that, it’s really difficult to try and get them to see why it’s so difficult to just get through life. It’s almost like replacing your body with a mannequin’s body and just having to be very plastic, and everything’s so deliberate and everything’s so heavy… I call it trying to run underwater. So I think that’s the biggest thing that really is the hardest, to really get people to understand and to empathize. And luckily, I’m now in a relationship that gets it, I’m surrounded by people who get it, and I think that’s a real key. ‘Cause you don’t have to necessarily understand it sometimes, but to empathize and go, ‘Okay, how can I help? How can I make this easier?’ I’ve seen it with that. I’ve seen it with a lot of the families who I work with who deal with PTSD and whatnot. It’s getting that communication to hit. I don’t need you to save me. I just need you to be there if I start to fall backwards and just give me a little push. That’s all I need, man. And sometimes knowing that will help you get through those bouts.”

[via Blabbermouth]