Country music star, Nathan Carter has revealed struggles he’s had with his mental health during lockdown.
Like people up and down the country, Nathan was left out of work with gigs cancelled or postponed until further notice.
For Nathan, as well as this being a financial blow, it also took a toll on his mental health as he’s used to playing up to 200 shows a year.
Whilst on Joe Duffy’s show, The Meaning of Life he spoke about this; “It was grand at the start, I needed a break. But I’ve struggled with it over the past six months.”
“There’s days when I wake up thinking, ‘What’s going on here? I’ve nothing to look forward to’. I was going from playing in front of thousands of people.”
In particular, Nathan spoke about how being on stage makes him feel, and that it was a shock to the system to go from those intense feelings to having to stay at home.
“It’s a drug, being on stage, the crowd in front of you, the rapport, the applause. It’s a massive drug.”
“So to go from doing that to literally doing nothing is a real come down. I thought, ‘There’s nothing to be getting up for, I might as well lie in bed for a few more hours’.”
“I did that every morning for about two months. I wasn’t clinically depressed but I was in a depressed state. I didn’t tell anyone because I hate to be a burden.”
Nathan also shared that working in the music industry often goes hand in hand with drinking too much, and the Covid-19 pandemic has meant that many people are drinking more at home than they used to.
“I was probably drinking a bit too much as well which didn’t help. It was probably a bad escalation of just drink and nothing to do.”
“The music business leans towards that type of stuff – after the gig you’re on the bus, you’re having a few and next minute it’s three in the morning.”
“You’re up partying the night away. I’ve often had a few words with myself and said, ‘You need to rein it in a bit’.”
