Duff McKagan Reveals He’s Suffered From Depression

In his always well-written and engaging Seattle Weekly column, ex-Guns N' Roses bassist Duff McKagan revealed that he suffered from acute depression for the first time in his life immediately after the 9/11 terror attacks. He not only shares details about what he felt and how he combated it, but offers some tips on how to get it under control.

McKagan, 48, revealed that his previous experience with the disorder was distant, at best. He supported friends who were afflicted with this disease. His attitude, at the time, was somewhat cavalier, but only because he had never experienced it himself.

"I had never experienced real depression in my childhood or early adulthood," the musician wrote. "I had plenty of friends who did, but still I would scratch my head...and think to myself 'Just snap out of it!' when friends did tell me of their issues regarding depression. But I HAVE suffered panic attacks for most of my life, and I do understand that chemical imbalances and other inputs can stack up against someone...way beyond the 'Just snap out of it!' realm."

McKagan, however, was hit like a ton bricks when the attacks on the country happened, and he shared his personal feeling about the world as he knew it, saying, "My own place on this earth seemed muddy and without bedrock. My daughters were 4 and 1, and suddenly my idealistic vision of being the perfect dad was acutely obscured by movements beyond my ability to control. I sunk into a thick, black state of being. Depression for the first time."

So how did the rocker cope? McKagan acknowledges, in anti-Tom Cruise fashion, that medication certainly helps those with depression, but he also shared another methodology:

"I have found in fighting thoughts and feelings of depression is to actually talk and get out -- face the day head on if you can," he shared. "'Today is going to be the best day in my history' is not a bad place to start. Share your 'stuff' with others. Don't be afraid to do it. You may just be surprised by how many like-minded people there are out there. Depression and anxiety have touched most of us to some degree or another...There is a way out of depression -- you just got to get to a place to examine the monster."

Read the entirety of McKagan's column here.