"To my fans & friends:



So, it's no secret that I have recently went through one of the
hardest times in my life.

On Sunday, July 20th, I attempted to overdose on prescribed Xanax at
my home here in Michigan. Flash ahead 12 hours later, I woke up in the

emergency room surrounded by my family and best friends, with an IV in

my left arm, and hooked up to machines.



I felt confused, angry, selfish, and completely embarrassed.



After being admitted to the hospital for a couple of days, I made my
way to recovery and built up enough strength and courage with the
support of my loved ones enough to make it back home.



I am okay, though. Thankfully, I had no permanent physical damage to
myself from this.



This isn't something that I went through by myself. I am, by no
means,
alone in this. My family and close friends have been by my side each
minute since the incident and, you, my fans, have been right there
with me too.



I have received an incredible amount of MySpace messages, comments,
emails, instant messages, text messages and voice mails supporting me
through this time in my life. So many people loved me more than I ever

thought and the amount of happiness that this brings to me is more
than I ever could describe.



You have all shown me a new, blinding light within myself and from
that ray you seem to shine on me with every one of your beautiful
comments (and I read every single one of them), not to mention your
undeniable support. Thanks to you, I've already began to return to my

"normal" self- a person that I had forgotten all about.



Why did this happen?



I have been battling with manic depression, bipolar disorder, and
constant anxiety attacks for years. This disease has caused me to hide

in my bedroom for weeks at a time, push away the most important people

in my life, and learn to hate myself even. I have tried to remain
strong through the years, fighting off urges and using the undying
support of my fans, friends, family, and loved ones to turn my
depression into an art- a music to share with the world.



I also have been speaking with a therapist for around a year now,
maybe more. This has helped me to come in touch with who I am as a
human being and why I do the things that I do. Rationalizing my
imperfections and trying to wear them as if they were badges of honor
is something that I had learned to pride myself off of- until this
incredibly selfish and stupid act I pulled.



What's next?



I'm looking towards the future and have been blinded by the
brightness
of it. After taking care of myself over the past few days, and talking

through this situation with my family, friends, and managers, I am
committed to creating only positive actions out of the deepest and
darkest low I have found myself in with this. I will not be canceling
any upcoming shows, with the exception of this Sunday's show (7/27)
in
Albany, NY with P.O.D and Everclear. My solo show this Saturday
(7/26), WILL STILL BE HAPPENING, and will be an emotional and
therapeutic experience, to say the least. With it being in Detroit,
and being able to perform softly, with spoken-words, and seeing all of

the people that have been by my side though this entire thing, I hope
to find a new bliss within this rut I have found myself in.



I cannot wait enough to get back out onto the road with Chiodos for
our just-announced headlining tour this August to October. Being in
front of all of you gives me such strength and if I hadn't been home

so much for the past few months, thinking too much and allowing
darkness to overcome me, who knows if this would have even had
happened.



I have a long road ahead of me, no doubt, but I feel that this
experience has, oddly enough, given me new strength to take control of

my situation and it has shown my loved ones (and myself) the
seriousness of wh

I’m not dead, just busy.

A quick update to tide everyone over until I can become clear headed enough to simply convey my thoughts.

My voice is fine, better than ever in fact. Don’t believe rumors… especially about me. Just a few days ago, I had heard that I was dead. Haha, trust me…it won’t be that easy world…I’m not going anywhere.

“You make the sun shine down
You could paint the darkest clouds and turn them into rainbows”

I like those lyrics…a lot. Go pick up the new Rascal Flatts cd, so good!

Tour is soon. I have locked myself in my room as of recent, and learned the entire Nirvana Unplugged in NY (MTV) record. It’s fun. You should do it as well.

Talk soon. I’m much too busy, for even my own thoughts at this point.

"Dear the country/continent of australia,

We regret to inform you that we have to cancel our dates on the "soundwave festival." BUT WAIT, things will get sexier. We got an offer for a tour in the states that we couldn't turn down with the position that were in. I know this sounds like were totally bailing on a bunch of totally wicked sweet dudes and dudettes, but were not. It was a really tough decision, all of us dudes were really really excited to hang out and head bang with you aussies, but it comes down to this opportunity that we can't pass up. Hopefully you don't hate on us and fly over to kill brad's dog, steal derrick's tobacco bong, give jason a shower, steal pat's shoes, hot-wire craig's car, and lastly pop my butt cherry. All of us know that violence is not the answer, BECAUSE we'll be coming to australia soon, no worries. I have a scheduled fight with a kangaroo anyway, and that thing has been talking way too much shit, SO when that happens everyone is invited to watch me kick the shit out of this kangaroo, i've been training.


to sexy accents,

Matt CHIODOS"