Geezer Butler avoided talking to doctors as he struggled with depression because he was terrified he would be hospitalised against his will.
Geezer Butler has opened up about his battle with depression
The Black Sabbath rocker has battled mental health troubles for years and he's revealed he was told to "watch television or read a book" when he first sought medical help - and he ended up refusing to see any more doctors over fears he would be committed to an institution if he revealed how badly he was suffering.
In an interview with TalkShopLive, Geezer, 75, explained: "Unless you’ve experienced true depression, you can’t describe it. It’s like you’re going to this awful black hole.
"And people would say, like, ‘Oh, just go and have a drink or take the dog for a walk.’ That’s what the doctors used to say. ‘Well, go and watch television or read a book.’ And, of course, you’ve got no interest in anything."
He went on to add: "I mean, I wasn’t depressed all the time, but when I used to get the bouts of depression, you just couldn’t explain it to anyone, and you were terrified that you [would] go to a mental health person, maybe, and they put you in hospital for years, in a mental institution.
"So you’d never go to doctors or anything like that. And so you just had to get on with it. "
He struggled to confide in his friends because they couldn't understand why he was so miserable. Geezer explained: "They were saying, ‘You’ve got all the money you want, you’ve got your house, you’ve got your cars and everything. What’s wrong with you? Cheer up.'
""And they couldn’t understand that it’s nothing like that. You can have everything you can possibly want in the world, but when you get into those dark, depressing days, nothing matters."
However, the musician found relief in writing song lyrics - and he poured his pain into Black Sabbath's huge hit 'Paranoid'.
Geezer was finally given a proper diagnosis in 1999 and he was given a course of antidepressants which helped him feel better.
He added: "In 1999, I was finally properly diagnosed, and they put me on Prozac for six weeks ... After six weeks, this big cloud seemed to lift off me. It was great."
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