Rapper and actor Method Man recently opened up about his struggle with anxiety and depression and how it has affected his life.
In an interview with Men's Health, the Wu-Tang star talked about how he coped with his rising fame and how it felt like it was a challenging experience.
“It went from this childhood joy to this euphoric feeling of celebrity to feeling inadequate and not good enough. That’s where the depression and stuff came in… I didn’t even know that I had been depressed since I was a youngster before I started doing music and moved to Staten Island. A lot of PTSD I had never dealt with before started resurfacing.” he told Men’s Health.
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With constant critiques of his music paired with the growing Wu-Tang fan base, he said it became difficult to navigate between the criticism and the praise. In addition to his struggles with intense insomnia, he noticed that the people he surrounded himself with were not the best for his mental health. This led him to a healthier lifestyle.
Due to the intense schedule, Wu-Tang had in the 1990s, Method Man admitted he didn't take care of his mental and physical health.
“It wasn’t at all, whatsoever. Wake up, smoke, hit the streets… whatever the day called for that day. One thing they don’t do during your promo is give you time to do s--- like activities for the gym or stuff like that. Nah, they shuttle you from one place to the next. You get fast food all day. But we were young, so metabolism helped and none of that stuff stuck,” he stated.
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Nevertheless, he has now completed a 180-degree turn and is working tirelessly on improving his overall health as well as his physical ailments. With late-night gym sessions to deal with his insomnia, to protein shakes first thing in the morning to give him the energy he needs for work, Method Man is making sure his well-being is a priority. When it comes to hip-hop, Method Man is also interested in finding ways to tap into this conversation.
While he opens up conversations about health with his Wu-Tang members, he also is not shy to admit that they typically do not want to talk about it.
“If anything, it’s referenced like the first five minutes when you walk into the room. ‘Oh look you big, bro. What are you doing?’ After that, it’s not even talked about anymore,” he told Men’s Health. Yet, he continues to focus on his own health journey, which is his biggest priority.
As of late, the topic of Black male health has become a topic of conversation among many people. Many people are striving to break the stigma around mental health conversations, but it has also led to a number of challenges that can arise as a result of a desire for change in this regard. As a result of the barriers that exist in the mental health field, Black men can often find it difficult to obtain the adequate treatment they are entitled to receive.
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In addition, barriers like this contribute to the growing suicide rate among young Black men in the United States. According to the Suicide Prevention Resource Center, in 2020 suicide was the third leading cause of death for Black Americans.
The process of seeking professional help when it comes to taking care of your mental health can be challenging at times, but other options are available for you. When you prioritize your physical health by participating in stress-reducing activities such as yoga and by engaging in mental activities such as journaling, you can learn to feel more at ease.
We hope that rappers like Method Man can play a role in helping to end the stigma surrounding asking for help when you need it.
