How Did Lil Peep Deal With His Depression? (+5 Additional Facts)

This article will discuss how the rapper and singer Lil Peep battled depression. For that, the article will show how his battle with mental illness appeared in his interviews and his work. 

Who is Lil Peep?

Lil Peep, who is named Gustav Elijah Åhr, was a Swedish-American singer, rapper, and songwriter. He was born in 1996, and in 2017, at age 21, he died of an accidental overdose of fentanyl and alprazolam.

He was born in Pennsylvania, and in 2013 started releasing his songs on SoundCloud. He became quite popular on the platform, and in 2015 he released his first single called “Star Shopping”. After that, still in 2015, released two other works, which he called mixtapes.

Followed by many others in 2016 that became hits. He made his first live performance in February 2016 alongside other stars such as Fat Nick. But in 2017 he was making his first solo tour. During this, he packed venues in Russia, and all over western Europe. 

After that, he did a tour in the United States and went back to London to record his first studio album. But once he returned to perform in the United States, it was two weeks before his 21st birthday that he died of an accidental overdose in the tour bus.

But even though he died so young, he left a mark on his fans, and on how people handle mental illness. Throughout his life, he felt like an outcast, and always identified with subcultures. Aside from that, depression and music have always walked side by side, in his life. Let’s discuss a little more about how he handled all of it. 

Lil Peep’s battle with depression

Since he started making music, Lil Peep has been vocal about his struggles with mental illness. He made sure to show people the emotional turmoil he was in., and now school waste first adversity went through.

For him, that period was extremely intense. He felt misunderstood, alone, and even trapped. It got so bad that sometimes he would vomit before going to school. All of this made him leave school and get his diploma from an online high school. 

This lack of support from the school, the isolation, and the operation that can come from it can have a huge impact on the person’s mental health. But depression is not only something caused by the environment the person lives in. 

And Lil Peep knew this all too well. Showing how aware he was of his condition, he said that his mental illness was caused by a chemical imbalance, taking mental health out of that stigmatized place, and putting it on the same level as physical health.

But being so aware of your condition doesn’t make it less intense. All through his work, it is possible to see references to nos mental state. In the song Feelz for example, he said “It’s like Palestine up inside my mind, a deadly war zone”. In this, you can get a sense of how erratic his thoughts and feelings were.

And in the song Life, you get a notion of how unbearable life was for him when he said “If I tried suicide, would you stop me?”. In other songs, such as Beamerboy he talks about how lonely he feels, even though he is extremely successful. 

Feelings of guilt and loneliness are also present in songs such as Awful Things and Save That Shit. Throughout his career, he idolized many bands and performers that had struggled with mental health as well, such as Kurt Cobain, or Linkin Park. He had even said that he wanted to be known as the Kurt Cobain of Rap. 

And through his music, which mixed samples from different origins, from emo, to rock, he made a point of trying to mix things up. He did the same with his sexuality, and when he started to be labeled as bisexual, he preached that love should be equal for everyone. 

This great artist, who like many on his line of work has inspired intense emotional suffering, lost the handle on his addiction, which led to his accidental overdose. Accepting such loss is never easy, for his family, and his fans. 

But his life left a mark on how open people can be about their emotions, and how, by doing so, you can not only help yourself, and externalize your demons. But you give a chance to others to relate to what you are feeling, and in consequence, they can feel less alone.

When you consider his level of openness and the possibility former emo bands had, they are worlds apart. Lil Peep permitted himself to say things about how lonely he felt, and even how hard it was to deal with fame, that the previous generation of emo singers couldn’t bring themselves to say.

And hopefully, this causes a change in how people perceive mental illness. Maybe with this step forward he made, others will follow, and little by little mental illness will no longer be seen with such stigma, but as even Lil Peep has said, like a chemical imbalance in his brain, that needs the same care as a broken arm or leg. 

What can I do if I feel depressed?

If you experience intense sadness, or an inability to feel joy, or pleasure for a prolonged amount of time, it might be that you are experiencing a depressive episode. If that is the case, the first thing you can do is look for professional help.

It can be a therapist, or a psychiatrist, which is a doctor that specializes in mental health. With them, you can talk about your emotions, and they will help you understand what is happening, and what is the best treatment course. 

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ): Was Lil Peep depressed? 

Did Lil Peep have many tattoos? 

Yes, he had 59 tattoos. Some of them were related to his life, for example, he had his birthday tattooed on his stomach, and Peep, which was his nickname given by his mother when he was little, was in his arms. Another one that was related to his life story was the pumping tattoo that he made because he was born on a Halloween night. 

The two bats he had tattooed behind his years had the same meaning. He also had a tattoo of a centipede on his arm, he did that because he hated the animal, as a way to deal with what bothered him. Along with those, he had a tattoo with his mother’s initials and birth date, that he made on her birthday when he was 14.

He also had a tattoo of his dog, which was called Meep on his left leg. And he had the word homesick tattooed on his fingers because he was away from home for such a long time due to touring, which he said made him miss his mom.

Can addiction lead to suicide? 

Yes, addiction can lead to suicide. When a person is an addict they can feel like they will never be able to overcome the condition, this sense of hopelessness can make them feel like suicide is the only way out from all the sadness they are going through. 

And sometimes, they can look for relief from that sadness in having even more drugs. Which can lead to an overwhelming feeling of regret. This can make them feel like a failure, and they can become overly critical. 

When they have such a negative notion of themselves, they can become even more isolated, to a point when they might start to think that ending their lives is the best way to go.

What is an accidental overdose? 

Overdose is what happens when a person takes too much of something on purpose. It can be that someone takes a lot more drugs than they are used to, and this leads to an intense reaction of their body, which can even lead to death. But in a regular overdose, the person may decide to take more drugs. 

But in an accidental overdose, the person will ingest more drugs or different types of drugs than they were expecting. This can happen because their drug was mixed with another substance, or they lost control of how much they had ingested, either way, the outcome can be the same as the regular overdose.

What should be done if I abuse medicine? 

If you are under treatment and have taken more of your medication than you were supposed to, especially if it is a psychiatric medication, you should get in touch with your doctor. But if you start to feel that it is causing you to feel bad, agitated, or even nauseated, you may want to go to the closest emergency room you can find.

Once you get there, let them know that you take, and how much, so they can monitor you, and maybe even give you something to fight the effects of the medication on your system.

How can I cope with depression?

There are many ways to cope with depression, and each person usually finds their way. Depression will always make your life harder, so for it to improve, you might need to do some lifestyle changes. So you might improve your eating and sleeping habits.

Although it can be hard, eating and sleeping have a close connection to your level of energy, as well as your overall sense of well-being. Aside from that, exercising will allow you to get a rush of endorphins, and serotonin, they will most likely improve your mood, even if just for a little while.

Along with that, people may also benefit from opening themselves up to their support network. Even though depression can make you want to isolate yourself, having people around you can share your feelings, and also help you distract yourself sometimes.

Along with those, there are also mental health professionals that can help you cope with depression. There is the therapist, which is a person that you can talk to, but in a different way than you do with your friends. It is a non-judgemental conversation that will help you understand more about your emotions.

It will also give you the chance to learn how to navigate your depression better, and maybe even discover the root of it. As for a psychiatrist, a doctor that specializes in mental health, they will be able to help you understand the chemical imbalance that goes on in your brain when you are depressed, and how medication can help.

Conclusion

This article discussed the battle of the singer and rapper Lil Peep with mental illness, especially depression. For that, the article showed how his depression appeared in his interviews and work.

If you have any questions or comments about this article, feel free to write it in the section below.

References

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lil_Peep

https://www.rollingstone.com/feature/lil-peep-tragedy-torment-804686/amp/

https://www.unilad.co.uk/featured/lil-peeps-legacy-mental-illness.amp.html