Slipknot's Corey Taylor Discusses Depression, Staying Balanced In Sobriety

Corey Taylor, the vocalist for Slipknot and Stone Sour, never shied away from talking about his past. In a May episode of Viceland’s The Therapist, he candidly discussed being sexually assaulted at age 10 as well as his past suicide attempts.

Now in a new interview with Rolling Stone, he tells how he manages to stay balanced despite describing himself as a “fucking maniac.”

“It’s taken two bands, a book deal and a fucking radio show to just get me to even out,” he said. “And I still can’t fucking keep it together half the time.”

The 43-year-old father of three, who has been sober since 2006, says he tries to stay healthy despite his long history with drug use. “I exercise. I try to stay healthy as much as possible. I’ve tried to cut out all the negative shit in my life, as far as chemicals, boozing, all that shit,” he said, adding that his kids and his music help motivate him to keep it together.

As a sober individual, Taylor says he’s very conscious of how he copes with difficult emotions, especially when he’s depressed. “I do have bouts of severe depression, which are very, very hard to deal with sometimes. But because I’m also an addict, I try to stay away from potentially addictive medication as much as possible, because I know me, and I know how I would be.”

Taylor says he’s had to find alternative ways to cope, including sticking with therapy.

By appearing on The Therapist and sharing his most personal and traumatic experiences in life, Taylor wanted to impart to others that it’s “OK to be fucked up.”

“The reason I did The Therapist show was I knew that if I could open up and take away that stigma and show people that there’s absolutely fucking nothing wrong with sitting down with someone and talking about possible traumas that have happened in your life, or just talking about your problems, then you can help yourself a million times over, and you can help other people as well,” he told Rolling Stone.  

“If there’s any way that I can help people who have had to deal with much worse to help themselves, then I’m going to do that.”