Suyash Tiwari
While the question of mental health has recently gained fervour, the issue itself has been rampant for a long time. Several celebrities have spoken out about their struggles with mental illnesses and have overtly included it in their art and music. Often known to be ‘lyrically insane,’ Marshall Mathers, popularly known as Eminem, is arguably the most influential rapper the music industry has ever birthed. With his humongous fan following, he has constantly served as an idol for millions of aspiring artists. However, he has also dealt with multiple hardships throughout his life.
Raised by a single parent, Mathers’ father abandoned him when he was an infant. Research indicates that single mothers’ employment of psychologically controlling and rejecting parenting behaviours are predictive of adolescent psychopathology, beyond the influences of socioeconomic status, race, youth gender, baseline symptoms or diagnoses, and childhood stressful events. More specifically, single mothers are significantly more likely than cohabitating mothers to engage in psychologically controlling parenting behaviours. This has been found to potentially create adolescent depressive symptoms. As a child, Mathers was neglected by his mother. She was a drug addict and would often physically and emotionally abuse him, not caring about a growing child’s needs. Emotionally distant parenting with insufficient warmth or love, often results in deficit in cognition and social skills. With no sense of belonging and lack of parental love, such an environment creates optimum conditions for early substance abuse, alcoholism and depression.
Mathers was beaten, discriminated and bullied at school. He was socially isolated and had no close friends. Studies suggest that being victimized by peers is significantly related to comparatively low levels of psychological well-being and social adjustment, and to high levels of psychological distress and adverse physical health symptoms. His childhood was one of low self-esteem, anxiety, and trauma. Therefore, his immediate environment, school and home, was highly toxic for his mental health.
The World Health Organization claims that almost 300 million people around the world suffer from depression. Nearly 50 percent of all people diagnosed with depression are also diagnosed with an anxiety disorder. Alcohol appears to be a solution to many depressed individuals. However, alcohol also induces depression. Therefore, while it momentarily helps cope, it worsens the condition in the long run worsens it, creating a vicious cycle of drinking and depression. Sadly, Mathers knew nothing about these statistics. He probably did not even know what ‘depression’ meant.
Mathers’ married life was a stressful phase. Kim, his wife tried to commit suicide, he was jailed for assault and eventually, they got divorced. The custody of his daughter was given to Kim. He was forced to separate from his daughter, impacting his mental health severely. Mathers later stated that feelings of chronic sadness were debilitating. Not wanting to get out of bed became an inability to do almost anything. Activities he once enjoyed and relationships he once valued seemed meaningless. Out of several diagnostic criteria for depression in DSM-5; loss of interest, fatigue, reduced physical movement and diminished ability to think, were clearly seen in Mathers. He was also addicted to Vicodin, an opiate that induces numbness. Mathers once nearly overdosed on methadone. He took Vicodin in large amounts repeatedly and developed a tolerance against it. He attended rehabilitation but relapsed, struggling to cut down on the dosage even when he knew its unhealthy. His actions checked several criteria for substance use disorder as per DSM 5.
Mathers developed a case of clinically- diagnosable depression and substance abuse, a situation of dual diagnosis. A condition where two disorders occur simultaneously, dual diagnosis is often seen in the combination of depression and drugs or alcohol. He eventually realised the severity of his condition and wanted to become better, healthier. Having suffered and endured through a troublesome childhood, a disappointing marriage, separation from his daughter, depression, drugs and alcohol, Mathers is clean now.
The story of Marshall Mathers has helped reduce the stigma of mental illness. The idea of mental health gained momentum after Eminem spoke about his mental situation and tendencies. It started a conversation, after which several other celebrities too came out to talk about their mental health. Eminem wrote about his struggle and rapped about it, creatively spreading awareness and perhaps, voluntary normalising mental struggles. Not only is he a survivor, but has also became an inspiration for several other people across the world struggling and fighting against alcohol abuse and depression.
References
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