Carl Barat avoids Internet over anxiety

The Libertines star Carl Barat refuses to read about himself on the Internet to avoid exacerbating his anxiety issues.
The British musician has spent years battling anxiety, and he is convinced the condition can be worsened if he sees snarky comments online, so he cuts himself off from the web as a “coping mechanism”.
“There are varying opinions of us out there, but I have to rely what I know – not what trolls might say,” he tells Gigwise.com. “If there are people interacting with us in a room, then I’ll go with that rather than some smart a**e comment… online. If you’re dealing with anxiety then you have to come up with a coping mechanism to protect yourselves from them. Go with what you know… There’s that idea, Occam’s Razor – cut off that which you have no control over, or what you don’t know to be the absolute truth. That helps.”
Barat also insists music has helped him cope with his problems over the years, adding, “Music is so important – it gives you a whole different world to either escape in or understand yourself better. For someone with anxiety, music can give someone a voice through ideas. It can help you identify with the world and find something to be a part of. It’s such an important way to cope with anxiety and depression.”