Travis Barker's Son Landon Opens Up About Struggling With Alcohol Abuse, As Well As OCD, ADHD and Dissociation

He believes in sharing his experience to help others who are struggling.

Landon Barker arrives at the Nickelodeon's 2023 Kids' Choice Awards at Microsoft Theater on March 04, 2023 in Los Angeles, California.
(Image credit: Getty)

Content warning: suicidality, alcohol abuse, mental illness

Travis Barker's son Landon Barker, 20—a musician and influencer—has opened up about his struggles with alcohol abuse, as well as a number of mental health issues, including OCD, ADHD, anxiety, and dissociation.

In a new interview with People, Barker was asked about his history with mental health and derealization, which he has already spoken about on social media in the past.

"It originally started with a bad habit with alcohol," the influencer explained.

"I was abusing it and just abusing that substance, and then one day it just shocked me, and I had gone through that for months.

"It was awful, and I went through heightened OCD, heightened ADHD and heightened anxiety, all while disassociating and feeling like I was in a video game.

"I was watching my whole entire life through a movie screen. It was honestly awful. I always love to spread awareness about suicide and talk about it."

Barker went on to explain why he chose to speak about all this publicly, and how this decision has helped him.

"I feel like if you hold it in inside, it's a lot harder, and I feel like all the messages that I got when I posted about it honestly made me feel better," he said.

The musician continued, "I've always struggled with OCD, ADHD and anxiety, but yeah, disassociating and dissociation kind of just hit me like a truck last year and it was just the most awful experience.

"It kind of started with: I would drink, and then the day after, I would disassociate really bad, and that's kind of how my habit of drinking a lot started. It was like, oh, I'd feel better the second that I had a drink, and so yeah, it kind of just all started and it all kicked up really fast."

Barker explained that, even though he still gets anxious at times, therapy, medication, and doing his own research into mental health has really helped him cope.

"My derealization has been really bad and I just wanna come on here and tell everyone your [sic] not alone and we are all imperfect in our own ways. I love you guys. #mentalhealthawareness," Barker wrote in an Instagram Story in August 2022 (via Page Six).

The singer has also described his experience with OCD at length on social media, shedding light on what the disorder actually looks like beyond the many myths and preconceptions.

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Iris Goldsztajn
Morning Editor

Iris Goldsztajn is a London-based journalist, editor and author. She is the morning editor at Marie Claire, and her work has appeared in the likes of British Vogue, InStyle, Cosmopolitan, Refinery29 and SELF. Iris writes about everything from celebrity news and relationship advice to the pitfalls of diet culture and the joys of exercise. She has many opinions on Harry Styles, and can typically be found eating her body weight in cheap chocolate.