photo: WENN
DMC would quit drinking cold turkey when doctors pretty much told him that if he kept drinking he would die. Even though he was sober, he still wasn’t happy as he saw his role in the group he helped build become more diminished. Those feelings led to him sinking in depression for a number of years. The depression worsened in 1999 when he was diagnosed with the throat condition spasmodic dysphonia that took his voice. He tried to pick himself up by starting work on a memoir, but when he found out that he was adopted early in the writing process he sunk even deeper in depression and even started drinking again.
Per PEOPLE:
“I drank the whole bottle – not with Coke, like it was water – and I sat and looked and thought, ‘I can’t get no higher. The tolerance thing was starting to happen.'” recalls Daniels. “You feel good when you drink; you feel invincible. But it wears off, and then you feel worse. I had to think about my wife and son.”
Checking into an Arizona treatment facility after living sober for a month, McDaniels learned the root of his drinking.
“I was diagnosed with suppressed emotion: I wasn’t telling my truth and telling people the truth because I was so worried about what they would think of me, and I didn’t wanna hurt their feelings,” McDaniels says of an epiphany from counseling. “I was compromising who I was just to please Run and Jay.“
DMC would bounce back and get himself back together. He began performing again and even started his own comic book company. Now that he has overcome his demons he is sharing his story in hopes of inspiring others living with depression and suicidal thoughts.
Ten Ways Not To Commit Suicide hit bookstores on Tuesday, July 5.
