Method Man Sheds Light On His Mental Health Struggles, Overcoming Depression In His Early Career

Method Man covered the recent issue of Men’s Health and discussed the mental problems he faced early in his recording career with the media outlet.

Meth was easily one of the most recognizable voices of Staten Island’s rap supergroup, Wu-Tang Clan. From the onset of the group’s success, the man born Clifford Smith, Jr. was always seen as the lead man in some parts of the hip-hop audience.

Although the success was a given based on the accolades received by Method Man, you would think that he was truly happy and enjoyed everything that came with it. Especially since women found him sexy and men respected his lyric game, style, and flow. Every artist would want that. But, according to Method Man, that wasn’t the case. There were things taking place in his life that were never mentioned in songs or shown in videos.

“I was just being irresponsible, with many things coming back to bite me all at once. I wasn’t taking care of my finances in a proper fashion. The admiration wasn’t the same. I didn’t think it would bother me that much, but it did—people’s opinions. I was just angry. 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.”

Yet, even when the Power Book II: Ghost star was going through it, he didn’t recognize what was happening.

“I didn’t even know 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, but I didn’t know what it was then. In hindsight, you delve deeper into your psyche and see where certain things come from. I just wasn’t a happy person.”

The depressive state took over in all areas of his life. It even spread among the people around him. But, after a while, Method Man had to take control of his mental health and get that happiness he was missing back into his life.

“It reached a point where misery was loving company, and the people around me were just as miserable. So, it kind of fits. Then I got tired of it and did not want to be around miserable people anymore. I just wanted to see light. I wanted everything light. Forget the darkness. What can I create for myself? It had nothing to do with finances. It had nothing to do with other people. It was just me. What can I control? That’s what I did; I took control after that. I stopped valuing other people’s opinions, and instead of being my biggest critic, I became my biggest fan.”

Being in good health and still working in an industry that isn’t always nice to older recording artists, it’s good to see that Method Man has broken out of the depression he once suffered.