A few years ago, when I was writing the Mental Health Notes blog for b5media, I ran into an old Rolling Stone interview with Scott Weiland (Stone Temple Pilots, Velvet Revolver) in which he talks about his battles with depression and substance abuse how he was finally diagnosed with - and received proper medication for - bipolar disorder.
I was only vaguely aware, though, that his now estranged wife, Mary Weiland, was also dealing with demons of her own - namely, her own drug addiction and bipolar disorder.
According to Roadrunner Records’ Blabbermouth, Mary Weiland’s memoir Fall to Pieces: A Memoir of Drugs, Rock ‘n’ Roll, and Mental Illness will hit shelves on October 27, 2009, and in it:
“[...] Weiland describes the extreme highs and lows of her life, the volatility of which long hinted at mental illness. Working with acclaimed journalist Larkin Warren, Weiland tells her story with refreshing candor, unflinching detail, and more than a little humor. Reminiscent of celebrity memoirs by Tatum O’Neill, Brooke Shields, and Valerie Bertinelli, Weiland’s story offers a window into the world of modeling and rock ‘n’ roll celebrity while providing deep insights into a serious and misunderstood psychological disorder.”
Comments under the Blabbermouth article aren’t encouraging - most folks seem to think this memoir is a way for Mary to “cash in” on her life’s dramas. Maybe it is, but I’m willing to bet there was a bit more motive behind penning the story.
Sure, publishing a tell-all memoir about your life’s dirty laundry is almost always sure to bring in the bucks - especially if you’re fairly high profile.
However, writing about such details can also be quite therapeutic. Isn’t that one of - if not the - biggest reasons people keep diaries?
Sharing those private details can be just as therapeutic. Sharing them gives a sense of “coming clean” - no longer keeping things bottled up and no longer feeling as if you’re chained to a particular “image” you’ve created for yourself and have, until that point, felt obligated to continue portraying.
Plus, if you are fairly profile, sharing those details gives you a chance to clear the air and tell your side of what most of us have already heard or read about in the news. It gives people insight into what really happened - allows them the chance to really understand what was going on.
If these are the kinds of reasons that drove Mary Weiland to write her memoir, I say good for her. Maybe it’ll be a hit and rake in the cash, and maybe it won’t. Either way, if writing it (and later, sharing it) helped her cope with the turmoil, then good for her.
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This seems to be a desperate move to “cash” in on her insecurities with herself being a not so great mother, wife and wanna be model. In the world of fashion nobody has ever heard of her? … and according to her ex husband’s quote from blabbermouth,net she had a full run of 9 years to try and make it as a model before having kids.
<<>>>>>
I am surprised that a press release (from an ex-husband rocker who has admitted to not being med compliant, not being sober and not being in therapy)is your sole source for your kneejerk judgment about a book that isn’t out, about someone you don’t know. I wouldn’t have expected that on this site. TMZ, maybe.
I’m surprised that you found anything about this post knee-jerky or judgmental. I applauded Mary Weiland - I talked about how therapeutic it was to write about our lives - our struggles and successes - and my exact words were “good for her.”
The “press release” was from the news archive at the Roadrunner Records site, BlabberMouth.net, and to my understanding was not written by Scott. And, even if it had been written by Scott, the paragraph I quoted says nothing insulting or judgmental about Weiland, either.
I’m sorry - I can’t make any sense of what you mean.
The “press release” was from the news archive at the Roadrunner Records site, BlabberMouth.net, and to my understanding was not written by Scott. And, even if it had been written by Scott, the paragraph I quoted says nothing insulting or judgmental about Weiland, either.>>
sorry, I thought I’d copied in the previous post (from Jacques Rend) which was what I responding to. Scott in fact commented on this, on his own website, and very supportively. My objection was to someone assuming “desperate” “insecurities” and a modeling career that didn’t happen, in response to a book “jacques” has not yet read, written by someone whose only public comment to date was to acknowedge her BP disorder and a struggle for treatment. I’d have thought anyone who was reading/lurking at this site would be more empathetic until the jury’s in.
@ mahina - No worries 
I just wanted to make sure, because with the nature/subject of the posts on this blog - well, some things are “delicate,” and sometimes things do offend people or come across as offensive when I don’t mean for them to be. So, when times happen that I do offend people, it’s good to find out why - to clear it up or rethink it in the future, you know? Thank you for clearing it up for me - I appreciate it!
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