Mental illness comes in all kinds of shapes and sizes. From depression and anxiety to substance abuse, it is important to recognize and understand all forms of mental illness so that those who are suffering can be heard and helped.
Adam Gontier of Saint Asonia is no stranger to mental struggles. I spoke with him earlier this month for Mental Health Awareness Month, and he had no issue opening up about his struggles and how they affected him. He talked about his struggle to open up to people, and how he felt overwhelmed after joining his former band Three Days Grace.
“I had a really hard time telling people how I felt. I tended to really want to people please, and at the time I was thrown into quite the situation with a new band that was successful very quickly, so I got thrown into a situation I wasn’t ready for. I didn’t know how to communicate. I didn’t know how to ask people for help.”
Gontier then went on to talk about the turning point in his battle with substances, and how a relapse led to a very real assessment of his life.
“In 2017, I went into a treatment center. I was doing some solo acoustic shows in Canada, and I had relapsed, and I was using at the time. At the time, my wife was pregnant. So we had a weird situation where I was on the road and my tour manager and some friends intervened after one of the shows and basically sent me to Nashville to a treatment center. So I ended up there, and it was a really rough situation. And at that time, when I was in the hospital, my son was born in Minnesota. So I wasn’t there for him being born. And when I started to come around in the hospital and I saw the picture before they told me he was born and stuff, that was the moment for me that I… I mean, it’s no longer about me. So since that day I’ve been sober. No plans on going back to a dark place anytime soon.”
Thank you to Adam Gontier for being so open and so willing to share such personal details. Check out the full conversation below.
