Answer Addiction

Tag: Chris Cornell

  • Scott Stapp Pays Tribute To Chris Cornell, Chester Bennington

    Scott Stapp Pays Tribute To Chris Cornell, Chester Bennington

    Stapp’s new music video features images of Cornell and Bennington performing as well as the late musician, Prince.

    Creed frontman Scott Stapp paid tribute to the late Chris Cornell and Chester Bennington—fellow rock vocalists who died by suicide around the same time in 2017—in “Gone Too Soon,” a song off his new album The Space Between the Shadows (July 19).

    The music video for the song is a simple but powerful tribute, playing images of Cornell and Bennington performing as well as the late Prince, who died of a drug overdose in April 2016.

    Being in recovery from substance use disorder and mental illness himself, the passing of Stapp’s iconic peers affected him deeply.

    “When Chris passed, it hit me hard. And then a year later [sic] when Chester died, again, hit me really hard,” said Stapp during an interview with Nightline. “That’s when I began, I was at a place in my recovery… where not only was I feeling the pain of their loss, but I was saying, ‘Man, that very, very easily could’ve been me and should’ve been me.’ And this feeling of just, ‘I can’t ever go back. You know, because that will be my story.’”

    Stapp, who marked five years sober in March, endured a very public rock bottom and at one point became known for his erratic behavior. When Creed disbanded in 2014, Stapp reportedly suffered a psychotic break. He admitted to Rolling Stone that around this time he had been abusing alcohol, Xanax and Percocet.

    Reflecting On Addiction

    He reflected on that period of his life in a 2016 interview with The Fix. “It was a very scary and low point in my life. I was having delusions, hallucinations and massive paranoia. I was lost!” he said. “My bottom was losing my family, sitting in a psych ward thinking I was undergoing experiments at the hands of the CIA. It was the most horrific living nightmare of my life.”

    Eventually he found his way. His wife gave him an ultimatum—get help or lose your family. He stopped using drugs and alcohol, and began taking medication for his bipolar disorder.

    “My greatest accomplishments in life, my Grammys, are my children and my wife,” he told Nightline. “They mean more to me than anything that I could ever achieve or receive or have received in my entire career. That’s where it’s at. And if I never get another accolade… moving forward, I’ve already achieved it all with the family that I have.”

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Chris Cornell’s Daughter Explains Decision To Take Mental Health Break From College

    Chris Cornell’s Daughter Explains Decision To Take Mental Health Break From College

    The late rock star’s daughter noted that it is always important to take care of your mental health.

    Lily Cornell Silver, the daughter of late rock star Chris Cornell, took to Instagram on Thursday to reveal that she is taking a break from college for the sake of her mental and emotional health.

    “I did not ‘drop out of college’ (although it shouldn’t matter if I did),” she wrote on her Instagram story. “I took a temporary leave of absence to tend to my mental and emotional health, which was in part damaged by those who are gossiping about me.”

    Cornell Silver took the opportunity to rebuke those who would criticize her for the move, saying such people are part of the reason mental health continues to be a pressing issue.

    “Think twice before you judge somebody for experiencing anxiety, depression, trauma, grief, etc., and taking a step back to practise self-care as opposed to forcing themselves through it,” she urged.

    She also blasted people who thought she was simply making an excuse for slacking off. “Mental health and education are two things I take very seriously, which happens to be how I graduated with a 4.0. Nice try tho,” she rebuked.

    The subject of mental health is likely a tender one to Cornell Silver as her own father died by suicide. He battled both addiction and depression for years before his death in 2017.

    His widow, Vicky Cornell, said that he did not seem depressed or suicidal prior to that night in Detroit. “When we spoke before the show, we discussed plans for a vacation over Memorial Day,” Vicky wrote in a statement.

    Vicky, noting that Chris had taken extra Ativan that night, suggested the mood-altering drug was to blame.

    “Approximately a year before he died, he was prescribed a benzodiazepine to help him sleep,” she said. “He had torn his shoulder. The pain in the shoulder was waking him up at night and it was keeping him up.”

    Cornell’s family eventually sued Dr. Robert Koblin for “negligently and repeatedly [prescribing] mind-altering drugs and controlled substances.” 

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Chris Cornell’s Widow To The Opioid Task Force: No More Shame

    Chris Cornell’s Widow To The Opioid Task Force: No More Shame

    Since losing her husband, Vicky Cornell has become an advocate for improving addiction treatment and spreading awareness about addiction.

    Vicky Cornell, widow of Soundgarden and Audioslave singer Chris Cornell, went before the Bipartisan Heroin And Opioid Task Force on Monday to make a case for better training and education on addiction for doctors.

    Chris Cornell died by suicide in 2017 after struggling with depression and addiction for many years, and multiple medications were found in his system by the autopsy, including a barbiturate sedative and the benzodiazepine anti-anxiety medication Ativan. The drugs had been prescribed to him, leading Vicky to file a malpractice suit against the doctor.

    Although it was determined that the drugs did not directly contribute to Chris’ death, Vicky released a statement to the press soon after her husband’s death blaming the substances for causing a lapse in judgment that led to his death.

    “We have learned from this report that several substances were found in his system,” the statement read. “After so many years of sobriety, this moment of terrible judgment seems to have completely impaired and altered his state of mind. Something clearly went terribly wrong and my children and I are heartbroken and are devastated that this moment can never be taken back.”

    Since losing her husband, Vicky Cornell has been an advocate for improving addiction treatment and promoting the proper education in medical fields and for the general public.

    “The part that hurts most is Chris’ death was not inevitable, there were no demons that took over,” she said to the task force. “Chris had a brain disease and a doctor who unfortunately, like many, was not properly trained or educated on addiction.”

    Chris Cornell often spoke about his experience with mental illness, drug use, and addiction. In 2006, he told Spin that he was diagnosed with panic disorder and believes it was a direct result of a bad experience with PCP that left him “more or less agoraphobic.”

    After that, he avoided drugs until his 20s, but started drinking at a young age and became an alcoholic. After Soundgarden broke up and his first marriage began to fall apart, Chris began experimenting with OxyContin. He entered rehab in 2002 and was able to quit using alcohol and tobacco by 2005.

    Years later, according to Vicky Cornell’s suit, her husband’s doctor prescribed him the Ativan, a drug widely considered to be addictive, for 20 months without seeing the patient for a checkup. Chris told Vicky on the night of his death that he had taken an extra Ativan and was acting strangely. 

    Now, she wants to make sure it never happens again.

    “We must integrate addiction treatment into our health care system,” she said on Capitol Hill. “No more false narratives about the need to hit rock bottom, no more secret societies, no more shame — we must educate health care providers on how to treat addiction and best support recovery.”

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Chris Cornell’s Family Sues His Doctor Over Singer’s Suicide

    Chris Cornell’s Family Sues His Doctor Over Singer’s Suicide

    Vicky Cornell believes the doctor negligently prescribed her husband mood-altering drugs.

    Chris Cornell shocked the rock world when he suddenly took his own life in May last year. Now his wife, Vicky Cornell, and their children are suing the doctor who prescribed Chris a slew of prescription drugs that Vicky believes led him to his death.

    People obtained the lawsuit against Dr. Robert Koblin, which accuses him of “negligently and repeatedly [prescribing] mind-altering drugs and controlled substances,” including lorazepam and oxycodone.

    Koblin is accused of failing to consider Chris’ history of drug abuse and not properly following up on how the medications he prescribed were affecting Chris, the suit alleges. The drugs “clouded [Cornell’s] judgment and caused him to engage in dangerous, impulsive behaviors that he was unable to control, which cost him his life.”

    Chris was found dead at age 52, just hours after finishing a live performance with his band Audioslave. He had long struggled with substance abuse.

    “I went from being a daily drug user at 13 to having bad drug experiences and quitting drugs by the time I was 14,” he told Rolling Stone in a 1994 interview.

    At the time of his death, the late Soundgarden frontman had seven different drugs in his system, and although none of them were the actual cause of his death, Vicky believes an excess of anxiety drugs drove him to suicide.

    “Approximately a year before he died, he was prescribed a benzodiazepine to help him sleep,” she said. “He had torn his shoulder. The pain in the shoulder was waking him up at night and it was keeping him up.”

    There was no way he was suicidal, a family source believes. In the two weeks before his death, he delayed travel plans twice in order to avoid inclement weather. He even opted to drive a rental car for seven and a half hours instead of flying.

    “Clearly someone who was so hesitant and fearful to fly in these situations valued their life,” the source said. “These are not indications of someone with no regard to their well-being.”

    Following his death, Vicky said she found it hard not to blame herself. And, despite her husband being in a rock band, Chris was not another case of a hard rocker’s lifestyle catching up to him.

    “My husband was the furthest thing from a rock star junkie. He just wasn’t,” she said. “He was the best husband, the greatest father. I lost my soulmate and the love of my life.”

    View the original article at thefix.com