Rockstar Attempts to Manage Hall of Fame Expectations and His Mental Health
- Rockstar Ozzy Osbourne, 75, is nominated for a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction later this year. While several months remain before winners are announced, the achievement – even Osbourne’s nomination – has added meaning because he’s living with Parkinson’s disease since 2003.
- Parkinson’s disease is “a brain disorder that causes unintended or uncontrollable movements, such as shaking, stiffness, and difficulty with balance and coordination,” according to the National Council on Aging. Symptoms for this chronic illness tend to worsen over time.
- Osbourne’s condition has affected his mental health. Anxiety is triggered by many stressors, such as a diagnosis or the fear that your cancer will return. Experts tell SurvivorNet that tips for coping with anxiety may include finding hobbies that bring you joy or rationally managing your extreme thoughts.
- Genetic testing can help determine the best course of mental health treatment for people struggling with anxiety and depression. The test can give doctors a profile of how a person will likely respond to different psychiatric medications.
- Research published in Epidemiology and Psychiatric Sciences found that “35 to 40 percent of cancer patients have a diagnosable psychiatric disorder,” patients battling late-stage cancer tend to face even more significant mental health challenges.
Rockstar Ozzy Osbourne, 75, is in the running for the 2024 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction, but the Black Sabbath rocker admits the competition is stiff and he is just grateful to be nominated.
“It’s an honor that I’m nominated, but I’m not expecting to get in,” he told Rolling Stone.
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Osbourne once dubbed the “Prince of Darkness” has been a decades long fixture in the heavy metal genre. His notable hits include “Mr. Crowley,” “Miracle Man,” No More Tears,” and “Black Rain” among countless others.
Recent news and sightings of Osbourne have largely been related to his health. He lives with Parkinson’s disease which is an incurable “brain disorder that causes unintended or uncontrolled movements, such as shaking, stiffness, and difficulty with balance and coordination,” according to the National Council on Aging. Symptoms for this chronic condition tend to worsen over time.
Medications can be taken to mitigate and control some symptoms of Parkinson’s. Some of these medications include dopamine promoters, antidepressants, cognition-enhancing medication, and anti-tremor medication.
Ozzy Osbourne’s condition has caused him to cancel tour dates to focus on his health. He publicly revealed he was dealing with the chronic disease in 2020, although he was diagnosed in 2003. His journey included several surgeries, including one last year that removed and realigned pins in his neck and back, according to Page Six entertainment outlet. Prior to surgery, Ozzy dealt with nerve pain, blood clots, depression, and staph infections.
Osbourne noted last year that he had taken up Tai Chi to help control his nerves.
Helping Patients with Mental Health Resources
Coping With His Mental Well-being
Osbourne admitted his Parkinson’s diagnosis has taken a toll on his mental health.
“The one thing about antidepressants is it kills your sex drive instantly,” he said during an episode of The Osbourne Podcast last year.
Prior to coping with the emotional and physical side effects of Parkinson’s disease, in the early 2000s, Osbourne was diagnosed with anxiety and depression the Los Angeles Times reports.
According to Mental Health America, “56% of adults with a mental illness receive no treatment, and over 27 million individuals experiencing a mental illness are going untreated.”
While millions of people have unmet mental health needs, the need for mental health resources is even greater among cancer patients and their families.
Research published in Epidemiology and Psychiatric Sciences found that “35 to 40 percent of cancer patients have a diagnosable psychiatric disorder,” and the number of people experiencing mental health challenges is “higher among cancer patients with advanced stages of cancer and in palliative care settings.”
Helping Cancer Patients With Mental Health
According to Dr. Asher Aladjem, a physician psychiatrist at NYU Langone’s Perlmutter Cancer Center, addressing your symptoms one by one with a mental health professional can go a long way in making treatment a more tolerable experience.
“Patients need to know they’re entitled to get the whole spectrum of services, and the mental health service is a very important one, I think,” Dr. Aladiem tells SurvivorNet.
“For long-term mental health and living with cancer, flexibility is really at the core of how to manage long-term mental health,” says New York-based psychologist Dr. Samantha Boardman.
Dr. Boardman suggests asking yourself questions about how you deal with stressful situations to see if they’re working or need adjusting.
“Are your coping strategies in the way that you’re using them now? Are they as effective as they were in the past? Take a look at your beliefs. Do you have any fixed beliefs that are counterproductive and are impeding you from taking positive steps?” Dr. Boardman said.
To keep your mental health in check, it’s important to be aware of subtle signs that something is affecting your mind. These signs include:
- A change in eating or sleeping habits
- Losing interest in people or usual activities
- Experiencing little or no energy
- Numb and/or hopeless feelings
- Turning to drink or drugs more than usual
- Non-typical angry, upset, or on-edge feelings
- Yelling/fighting with loved ones
- Experiencing mood swings
- Intrusive thoughts
- Trouble getting through daily tasks
If you struggle in any of these areas, talk to your doctor or a mental health professional to begin your emotional journey alongside your other cancer treatment.
“Depression and stress make it harder to treat cancer [and] make it harder to tolerate the treatments,” Dr. Scott Irwin, director of supportive care services at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, previously told SurvivorNet.
“There’s data that if you have extra stress or depression that you may not recover or you have a higher risk of recurrence, so in treating the depression, we’re actually impacting the cancer care outcomes,” Dr. Irwin added.
How Genetic Tests Can Help Your Mental Health
Genetic testing is successful in matching patients with the proper medication to offset bouts of anxiety or depression.
WATCH: Understanding genetic testing and its connection to mental health.
“This test covers all of the psych medications, essentially, and it also covers pain medications. It’s such a great test,” Dr. Lori Plutchik, licensed psychiatrist, previously told SurvivorNet.
“Depression affects about 20% of women at some point in their life and about 10% of men at some point in their life. That’s a very prevalent illness, and then when you’re working in the cancer population, which I’ve worked in extensively over the years, depression can be up to 50% in patients who are having impairments in their life due to their illness,” Dr. Plutchik continued.
The Genomind test Dr. Plutchik uses looks for multiple factors before determining the medication with successful results and minimal side effects.
To do this, there are two parts to the test. First, the doctor will test for certain genes associated with responses to a medication commonly prescribed for mental health issues. Secondly, the patient’s ability to metabolize medication will be tested. Doing this reduces the chance of adverse side effects and allows patients to respond well to medication on the first try.
“About 95% of the time, the first medication that I choose for them ends up being the right medication,” Dr. Plutchik explains.
Questions to Ask Your Doctor
If you find yourself struggling with a diagnosis or helping a loved one cope with their emotions, consider asking your doctor the following questions:
- How can I go about improving my outlook/mental health?
- Are there any activities I can do to encourage positive feelings?
- When should I seek other interventions if I’m still struggling?
- What are the steps to finding a different therapist if the one I’m using is not working out?
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