PHIL ANSELMO: ‘I Take [Mental Illness] Really Seriously

REX BROWN JOINS PHILIP ANSELMO FOR PANTERA CLASSIC

Phil Anselmo talked to Desde El Underground TV about his commitment to mental illness in his recent solo album “Choosing Mental Illness as a Virtue.” He couldn’t help it talking about what happened to Pantera’s guitarist Dimebag Darrell. Take a look:

“I take [mental illness] really seriously. I mean, look no further than what happened to my guitar player from Pantera [Dimebag Darrell] for me to be very, very concerned with mental illness.

“So I would say for people to talk to each other, love each other and put love first. And if you put love first, things normally work out. It can’t happen every time, but, hey, man… You’ve gotta stay tight.”

Phil pointed out that he is not immune to the effects of mental illness, adding:

“I guess being injured – my entire career being plagued with injuries – it ends up f*cking with the brain a little bit.

“And there’s so many different levels to it. Sometimes you can just wake up and it’s *snaps fingers* like that. Sometimes it’ll take a small thing to put you over and you’re in a dark place.

“But, for me, I think, with the band I have, the good guys I have and the love that they show me, back and forth, the friendship that we have, it helps a great deal. Plus writing the music and getting to perform the stuff, it helps a lot with coping, man, and just dealing with stuff.

“I always say, as a person, just like everybody else… Human beings are one step away from disaster, no matter what, so it’s kind of up to the rest of us to watch each other’s backs, help each other up when we’re down and just make sure we don’t take that one step too far.”