Adversity

Max Bemis did not know that he had bipolar disorder until he was out of college and recording an album with Say Anything. He suffered from anxiety during the recording process and to treat it he used marijuana heavily. His heavy use of marijuana caused him to have a mental breakdown. During his mental breakdown he wandered around the streets of New York yelling and random people. He thought that he was in a movie and everyone knew it except for him. Kind of like the movie the Truman Show.

His mental breakdown led to him being put into a mental instituation where he was officially diagnosed with manic-depressive disorder or bipolar disorder. Even after he was discharged from the mental institution his bipolar disorder and anxiety bothered him. Max was on tour with Say Anything in 2005 when they were forced to cancel the six-week headlining tour due to Max combining his bipolar medication with other drugs. At his worst Max was seeing full out paranoid delusions.

Later that year Max had another breakdown and was once again admitted to a mental institution. This caused Say Anything to cancel further tour dates.

By 2007 Say Anything went back on tour. Max was out of the hospital and Say Anything released another full-length album. Since being discharged Max has been sober and he has stopped smoking. He is still on medication to help regulate his bipolar disorder, but the fact that he has stopped doing drugs is what has helped the most with his disorder.