Sean has been on the road pouring his heart out and telling his story to anyone who listens, in particular the traditional media including magazines, television and newspapers. Sean has publicly declared many times he was unhappy with same message Great Big Sea was telling when they were together, yet he certainly has shared this one over and over again during the last three years. The message seems to be that any addict or anyone with serious mental health issues is ‘they are not alone’.
Recently Sean circulated an interview he did for an online magazine called Stigma on his social media accounts. Again Sean shared his reasons for leaving a successful band behind, his fight with alcohol, his new life and music. In this interview Sean seems to take responsibility for his problems and there was not the usual digs at his former band members, their music and his previous lifestyle. He seemed to have moved on. However, this seems to be short lived.
“I remember Googling the term alcoholic because I suspected I had a problem. Now when you suspect you have a problem, you have a problem. So I Googled the term alcoholic and said “Oh that is what the problem is. Okay!! I’ll just stop. I can fix this.” Sean McCann in Stigma.
I have not read or listened to a lot of articles and interviews Sean has done over the years. However, this interview in my opinion states Sean has never been officially diagnosed as an alcoholic, attended a support program for an addiction and to the best of my knowledge never received any type of professional counselling to help him deal with his issues. Sean self-diagnosed his problem by Googling alcoholic. Although Sean admits he tried to stop drinking many times and failed, he finally did this time, going cold turkey after being given an ultimatum from his wife that he would lose her and the kids if he didn’t stop.
As the story goes Sean helped himself not by getting professional counselling, but by pouring his heart and soul into his music. Sean has adopted the role of a spokesperson for addiction and mental health issues talking to anyone who would listen to him talk about his problems and hoping his experiences may be of some use to someone experiencing a similar situation. Social media posts and responses to his story indicate Sean has received a considerable amount of support, sympathy and admiration, in particular from people who are not Great Big Sea fans and who do not know the whole story.
“What message of hope would you like to share with people out there who might be struggling? “I would like to tell them they are not alone…What I was really doing was accepting and realising I needed help.” Sean McCann in Stigma.
While Sean sees himself as an advocate for people with addiction and mental health issues I have only heard the message ‘that people are not alone.’ I have never read Sean advocate for people affected to seek professional counselling or help for really serious addiction and mental health issues. It would be interesting to know the statistics of people wanting professional counselling in Canada, without celebrity status, extensive networks or the financial resources to pay for it who do not get it. I gather many addicts and people with mental health issues and their families are alone, not through any fault of their own and not talking about it, but through a lack of access to appropriate services.
To me this raises many issues about Sean's addiction and self-help program he is publicising. How many addicts of any kind really have the luxury of being financially secure, having an extensive network of support both from family and strangers and have the ability to be self-employed while sorting out their demons. How many addicts with serious addiction problems go ‘cold turkey’ without falling off the wagon? Many ordinary addicts lose everything, their jobs, family and friends prior to getting professional help including counselling, going into rehabilitation and attending addiction programs. Many lose their life.
“If I had any regrets it’s that I wish I had said more earlier.” Sean McCann in Stigma.
Sean’s addiction and abuse came out after he had earned a lot of money from the Great Big Sea XX tour and album and had set him and his family up for a long period of time. Sean had no trouble taking a lot fan’s hard earned money for concerts and album sales from this and other tours. Sean seems to admit he allegedly was in a bad place and he was just going through the motions. The front cover of Stigma magazine says ‘Sean McCann, Great Big Recovery. Invisibly Disabled at Work.’ While I haven’t read or listened to every interview Sean has done I have never heard an apology, especially to the fans for this perceived deception and act and taking their money.
“The first thing I experience was the isolation. I had a lot of friends. I was a pretty popular guy! But your drinking buddies are your drinking buddies. When the liquor wasn’t there they scattered and they weren’t there. I was alone.” Sean McCann in Stigma.
Sean has mentioned in this interview and others that his friends deserted him when he stopped drinking. The Newfoundland music and arts community to the best of my knowledge is a small close knit community that seems interdependent and supportive of each other in so many ways. There is no mention in these interviews about the fact Sean has tied up the other members of Great Big Sea in legal action and he wants a payout which now seems to have met with a stale mate. As Great Big Sea operates on an agreement, the other remaining members have not been able to move forward in the way they want too with Great Big Sea.
There is no mention in these interviews that over the past three years Sean has taken little digs at his previous lifestyle in Great Big Sea, their work and music and the members of the band that has in many ways has not reflected positively on the band, but also the Newfoundland music culture in general. To me there seems to be an unwritten rule about artists, musicians and bands on the road on a bus and at work. That rule is what happens on the bus and at work, stays on the bus and at work. So perhaps Sean’s legal action and wiliness to break the unwritten rules may have something to do with his friends leaving him and not the decision to stop drinking and alcohol. Newfoundlanders and in particular those who still live there and the fans are going to take sides and it wasn’t his.
“I have learned that you cannot overcome your problems unless you are willing to face them. For over thirty years I used alcohol and drugs as an anesthetic to cover up my constant pain and it almost killed me”. Sean McCann in Ottawa Life.
Although I knew about the alcohol I have never read articles or heard interviews where Sean was taking drugs as distinct from alcohol. As the stalemate of a financial settlement lingers for Sean, the other members of Great Big Sea are moving on to other successful projects both inside and outside of music. Sean seems to have increased what some would call honesty and while others like me call nastiness about the drinking side of their lifestyle and internal conflicts as he waits for the financial settlement. To me this is something that should stay between former band members. However, I wonder what professional health workers would say about a client with addiction and mental health issues who states they are in full recovery and in a good place while engaging former friends and workmates in legal action, sharing negative stories about them to anyone who will listen and preventing others from moving on.
I do wish Sean McCann all the best in his new life after Great Big Sea.
Sean McCann articles
‘Sean McCann The Great Recovery’ by Luke de Leseauc in
Stigma. A Voice For The Voiceless. Spring 2016.
‘From the Rock
to the Capital, Séan McCann’s Road to Recovery: Part 1’ published on September 2016
http://www.ottawalife.com/2016/09/from-the-rock-to-the-capital-sean-mccanns-road-to-recovery-part-1/
'We're not alone': Recovery Day held for 4th time in
Edmonton’ by Mack Lamoureux for CBC Canada on 16 September, 2016.
