Darryl (DMC) McDaniels, of the hip-hop group Run DMC, has written a new book, Ten Ways How Not to Commit Suicide. The memoir details his experience navigating a suicidal crisis, and how he found help and recovery through psychotherapy and self-help tools like listening to uplifting music.
In an interview with The Huffington Post, McDaniels said, ““When I went to therapy I realized something that most men – I don’t care what race, creed, or color you are, but especially black men – I realized that therapy isn’t ‘soft’…It actually empowered me. It allowed me to say things that I thought about, but I would never want to hear myself say those things.”
One of the more fascinating discussions in the book is how the song “Angel” by Sarah McLachlan helped him weather an ongoing mental health crisis. In this excerpt from the book, McDaniels explains: “I cannot overemphasize how important that song was to me in the midst of my depression. ‘Angel’ kept me serene even when every fiber of my person was screaming for me to lose it [and] made me believe that I could soldier through…It would be too simple to say that song got rid of all my negative feelings. It couldn’t rid me of the wounds. [But] ‘Angel’ was like a life preserver tossed to me during a storm. It didn’t pull me out of the water, but it did help me stay afloat until other help came along.”
If you’d like to hear McDaniels’ tell the story in his own voice, check out this live storytelling performance he did for The Moth.
What songs do you listen to when you want to boost your mental health??
Resources to try:
- Man Therapy: an online tool designed to help men with their mental health.
- 52 Songs to Cheer You up Every Time (Bustle)
- Happy Songs That Will Instantly Put You In A Good Mood (Refinery 29)
- Songs To Soothe Your Anxiety, According To Science (And Me) – TheFrisky.com
- 19 Songs That Will Wash Away All Your Stress (Buzzfeed)
If you’re feeling suicidal, please talk to somebody. You can reach the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1–800–273–8255 or Trans Lifeline at 1–877–565–8860. If you’d like to talk to a peer, warmline.org contains links to warmlines in every state. If you don’t like the phone, check out Lifeline Crisis Chat or Crisis Text Line.