“I did acid, and that was actually a little better”: Rick Springfield reveals he suffered brain damage in an accident 20 years ago, and he’s trying microdosing to help it
Back in 2000, Rick Springfield’s life changed forever. An onstage tumble in Las Vegas saw him hit his head – and a whole-body MRI scan has revealed that he’s still suffering from brain damage as a result of the fall.
Speaking to People, the Jessie’s Girl singer recounts the unfortunate fall. “I fell 25 feet, hit my head,” he says. “Then wood came down and hit my head, and then my head hit the stage again.”
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At the time, Springfield just assumed the fall would have a short-term impact on his guitar playing. However, the loose piece of wood rendered a potentially harmless fall into something far worse. “I thought I had just broken my wrist, but on the scan I found out I have some brain damage from the fall,” he reveals. “So I’m working on trying to repair that.”
Now aged 75, Springfield is making every effort to keep his brain and body in shipshape. “I exercise every day, and every time I play with my band, it is a two-hour aerobic workout,” he tells People. “On the road we’re [gym] whores.”
He’s also cut out meat, focusing on more of a pescatarian diet. “I’ll have meat now and then if I feel like feeling a little weak, but I don’t eat dairy or anything like that,” he explains. “I’m on a big anti-inflammation kick.”
His relationship with alcohol has also changed in the last 25 years. Back in the day, Springfield admits he was “drinking quite a bit”, but now he’s content with “a couple sips of vodka” onstage. “I don’t drink any other time,” he says. “As you get older, it’s kind of a natural thing to drop all that shit.”
While Springfield still experiments with drugs, he no longer views ketamine, LSD or acid as party drugs. He reveals he has been micro-dosing narcotics to help with his mental health and brain damage.
“At first, I wanted to see if [ketamine would] open a few things in my brain,” he says. “It was a creative experiment and an experiment on depression. I did it for as long as suggested, and I wasn’t a big fan.”
“It made me feel heavy and machinelike. It didn’t change much in me – although I have been writing a lot, so you never know what kind of effect it has later on. It’s not a black-and-white kind of thing.”
The rocker has found that acid is far more beneficial for his brain. “I did acid, and that was actually a little better,” he says. “I hadn’t done that since I was in my 20s, but it was a great high.”
“I don’t mean to push drugs on anyone, but I’m not averse to anything that helps me be happier and a better person,” he clarifies. “I could use some help in that area. I’m always searching.”
Springfield also documented his experience with depression in his 2010 memoir, Late, Late at Night. “I want to prove that I’m not the jerk the depression tells me I am and then let people know that it’s OK, that you can still have a successful life and deal with it,” he told Spectrum News at the time. “It doesn’t have to take you down.”
The post “I did acid, and that was actually a little better”: Rick Springfield reveals he suffered brain damage in an accident 20 years ago, and he’s trying microdosing to help it appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.
Source: www.guitar-bass.net
