Matthew Good talks mental health at Whitby's Ontario Shores Centre for Mental Health Sciences
By Parvaneh Pessian
News Durham Region.com
Canadian musician blends tongue-in-cheek humour with open-hearted honesty to discuss bipolar disorder
WHITBY -- As Matthew Good slips a guitar strap around his neck and steps up to the microphone, he grins wistfully behind a pair of thick black frames.
"The first thing you should know about me is I don't rehearse," he says to an audience of more than 150 people who packed into a lecture hall for a sold-out presentation at the Ontario Shores Centre for Mental Health Sciences in Whitby on Thursday.
The result is an emotionally raw performance of four songs in between pauses to make light-heartedly self-deprecating jokes and casual chit-chat with the crowd.
His honest rendition mirrors the presentation he gave the audience just moments before, surrounding his experience of living with bipolar disorder.
The Vancouver-born musician, who soared to fame in the late 1990s as frontman for the Matthew Good Band, was invited to the Gordon Street facility as part of the Imagine Film Festival series.
Bipolar disorder, also known as manic-depressive illness, causes severe shifts in a person's mood, energy and ability to function. The dramatic mood swings often range from overly happy to extremely sad with periods of normal mood in between.
In an hour-long conversation with host Dan Carter during the presentation, Mr. Good touched on the highs and lows of his battle with the illness, speaking candidly about the impact it has had on not only his music, but his life.
"In my early 20s, it was more of a classic mania where there was elation, a lot of ideas, a lot of energy," he said, describing his challenges with bipolar disorder, which at one point left him unable to sleep, vomiting for weeks and enduring black-out episodes.
"In my 30s it was all dysphoric, which is mania that is very much emphasized with a depressive state, which is hell -- I'll take the other kind of mania any day of the week."
Diagnosed just three years ago at age 35, Mr. Good describes the discovery that he had a mental illness as a "revelation" where pieces of his life seemed to finally fall together with meaning.
"It was like a massive weight had been lifted off my shoulders," he said.
"As far as my own personal pathology was concerned, everything made sense in my entire life (from) being put on Ritalin at seven to not sleeping for five days at 20."
The knowledge also equipped him with the necessary willingness to embrace the recovery process, which involved medication that he continues to take today.
Ontario Shores' Imagine Film Festival ran from Oct. 4 to 8, featuring several films centred on the theme of mental illness in an effort to raise awareness and reduce stigma, with Mr. Good's presentation wrapping up the event.
"It's just so refreshing to hear someone's story told with such candour and honesty, which really highlights why we hold this film festival," said Glenna Raymond, president and CEO of the centre.
"It's to address the issue of public awareness of mental illness and its challenges to help people feel more comfortable talking about it and allow them to step forward to access care and help when it's needed."
Mr. Good, who also speaks publicly on the subject for the Canadian Mental Health Association and privately through communication with fans, said he's not attempting to act as a face for the illness but rather, simply encourage open dialogue.
"I don't ever really consider it speaking, for me it's just like playing a show," he said of what he hoped to accomplish by appearing at the event.
"I'm not playing a show, I'm part of a discussion with people."
{I added YouTube links of some of Matthew Good's music}
YouTube - Matthew Good Band - Strange Days Music Video
YouTube - Matthew Good Band - Apparitions
By Parvaneh Pessian
News Durham Region.com
Canadian musician blends tongue-in-cheek humour with open-hearted honesty to discuss bipolar disorder
WHITBY -- As Matthew Good slips a guitar strap around his neck and steps up to the microphone, he grins wistfully behind a pair of thick black frames.
"The first thing you should know about me is I don't rehearse," he says to an audience of more than 150 people who packed into a lecture hall for a sold-out presentation at the Ontario Shores Centre for Mental Health Sciences in Whitby on Thursday.
The result is an emotionally raw performance of four songs in between pauses to make light-heartedly self-deprecating jokes and casual chit-chat with the crowd.
His honest rendition mirrors the presentation he gave the audience just moments before, surrounding his experience of living with bipolar disorder.
The Vancouver-born musician, who soared to fame in the late 1990s as frontman for the Matthew Good Band, was invited to the Gordon Street facility as part of the Imagine Film Festival series.
Bipolar disorder, also known as manic-depressive illness, causes severe shifts in a person's mood, energy and ability to function. The dramatic mood swings often range from overly happy to extremely sad with periods of normal mood in between.
In an hour-long conversation with host Dan Carter during the presentation, Mr. Good touched on the highs and lows of his battle with the illness, speaking candidly about the impact it has had on not only his music, but his life.
"In my early 20s, it was more of a classic mania where there was elation, a lot of ideas, a lot of energy," he said, describing his challenges with bipolar disorder, which at one point left him unable to sleep, vomiting for weeks and enduring black-out episodes.
"In my 30s it was all dysphoric, which is mania that is very much emphasized with a depressive state, which is hell -- I'll take the other kind of mania any day of the week."
Diagnosed just three years ago at age 35, Mr. Good describes the discovery that he had a mental illness as a "revelation" where pieces of his life seemed to finally fall together with meaning.
"It was like a massive weight had been lifted off my shoulders," he said.
"As far as my own personal pathology was concerned, everything made sense in my entire life (from) being put on Ritalin at seven to not sleeping for five days at 20."
The knowledge also equipped him with the necessary willingness to embrace the recovery process, which involved medication that he continues to take today.
Ontario Shores' Imagine Film Festival ran from Oct. 4 to 8, featuring several films centred on the theme of mental illness in an effort to raise awareness and reduce stigma, with Mr. Good's presentation wrapping up the event.
"It's just so refreshing to hear someone's story told with such candour and honesty, which really highlights why we hold this film festival," said Glenna Raymond, president and CEO of the centre.
"It's to address the issue of public awareness of mental illness and its challenges to help people feel more comfortable talking about it and allow them to step forward to access care and help when it's needed."
Mr. Good, who also speaks publicly on the subject for the Canadian Mental Health Association and privately through communication with fans, said he's not attempting to act as a face for the illness but rather, simply encourage open dialogue.
"I don't ever really consider it speaking, for me it's just like playing a show," he said of what he hoped to accomplish by appearing at the event.
"I'm not playing a show, I'm part of a discussion with people."
{I added YouTube links of some of Matthew Good's music}
YouTube - Matthew Good Band - Strange Days Music Video
YouTube - Matthew Good Band - Apparitions
