TRIGGER WARNING: This article contains references to alcohol and drug addiction.David Morrissey, the acclaimed personality known for his roles in ‘The Walking Dead’ and ‘Daddy Issues,’ candidly revealed how his terrible anxiety led him to become an alcoholic. While the 61-year-old has been sober for 21 years, the filmmaker-actor confessed to self-destructive behaviour post his father’s death.
David Morrissey opens up about a dreadful time
Talking about his depressive state, Morrissey claimed that he started drinking after his father passed away due to a haemorrhage at 54, when he was just 15. “Drinking first was about anxiety. I’ve had this terrible social anxiety, and that helped me get through it,” he said during Radio 4’s Desert Island Discs with Lauren Laverne, before adding, “in my adult life, I couldn’t stop. I wasn’t drinking to be convivial. I was on my own in the pub. That was really hard and very hard for my ex-wife and people around me.”
David Morrissey talks about his teenage years
Leaving his school at 16, the ‘Sherwood’ actor shared that he spent six months travelling with a theatre company based in Wolverhampton. “I knew that, academically, I was never going to be able to go to university or anything – that was never going to happen to me,” he remarked, adding that he had accomplish somewhere else. Morrissey further discussed his family situation, claiming that he cut ties with his mother to find independence. “They say that hyper-independence is a trauma response. I do tend to cut off sometimes,” he said.
David Morrissey comments on quitting alcohol
When Morrissey decided to quit alcohol, the actor remembered the person in Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) he used to work with. Calling him early in the morning, the ‘Gone’ actor stated that the man came around his house, and has not consumed spirit beverages since then. “When I stopped drinking, I didn’t stop being an alcoholic. My behaviour was still very self-destructive for many years,” he further added. As a way out, Morrissey went looking for acting and experimenting after watching an episode of 1970s TV drama Colditz, starring Michael Bryant, who pretended to go mad in order to escape from the situation. “I’m much better nowadays, but for a long time I was really telling myself I wasn’t enough and all that stuff, and that added to the alcoholism, and the inability to stop,” David Morrissey commented.DISCLAIMER: If you or someone you know is struggling with alcohol or substance abuse, please seek help from available helplines or support organizations.