Disturbed’s David Draiman talks about his struggle with depression

In a heartfelt moment, Disturbed‘s vocalist David Draiman gave an emotional speech to the audience at his band’s live appearance at the ‘Hog Fest‘ in Milwaukee, WI, on May 04. He addressed the audience, sharing his and his bandmates struggles with depression and addiction.

Draiman said:

A reason to fight. We all need one. The demons that are known as addiction and depression are very, very real. They are diseases no different than cancer. You can’t see depression. You can’t see addiction. It festers inside. It metastasizes, takes over your body and mind, your soul.

And I don’t know about you, but I’m tired of losing everybody I love to depression and addiction. Every single bandmember on this stage has dealt with those feelings, with those demons. And I miss the friends that we’ve lost. I miss Chester [Bennington, singer of Linkin Park], I miss Scott [Weiland, singer of Stone Temple Pilots] I miss Chris [Cornell, singer/guitarist of Soundgarden.]

And if I can be completely honest with you, a couple months ago, I almost joined them. Addiction and depression can happen to anyone ladies and gentlemen. No one is immune from it no matter how beautiful their life may look from the outside.

No matter how blessed they may seem. It’s out of our control. Now by a show of hands how many of you have dealt with the demons of addiction and depression yourself or know someone that has? Keep ’em up. Now take a look around this arena.

As you can see my friends, you are not alone.

You can watch his emotional speech in the video below: