"And [censored] you, for not having the strength in your heart to pull through. I've had doubts, I have failed, I've [censored] up, I've had plans, doesn't mean I should take my life with my own hands."

I know these are not your words, but they piss me off nonetheless. I'm not familiar with Staind any more than to know I have no real interest in listening to them, and this just galvanizes that point.

Whoever wrote those lyrics obviously has never dealt with depression. Maybe they've experienced sad points in their life that made them depressed, but that's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about full-on medical depression. Kurt Cobain was obviously a manic depressive; you can tell just by how he moved and acted. Manic depressives don't really have the option of ``pulling through''. It doesn't end for any good reason. It just ends. And sometimes it doesn't.

Kurt should have been on anti-depressives. But if he had, he would never have made that music. It's a trade off. You can feel like [censored] for no reason and be talented, or you can take the drugs and be as normal and untalented as everyone else.

As a friend of mine once put it, when you start talking about depression, all of a sudden everyone becomes a Christian Scientist. ``Just get over it.'' It just doesn't work that way.

And I speak from experience. My father was manic depressive my whole life. My wife is clinically depressive. So is my best friend. They are all on drugs. I am, too, but I'm not bad enough that I need to take anything. Also, I'm scared of it. I know how much it changes you, and I'm not going to do it until I absolutely need it. Hopefully, I'll still have enough sense about me (or someone else will) to make sure it happens.

Kurt was too far gone and obviously didn't have anyone. I don't know about Layne.