The Unwind is Yahoo Life’s well-being series in which experts, influencers and celebrities share their approaches to wellness and mental health, from self-care rituals to setting healthy boundaries to the mantras that keep them afloat.
Jack Osbourne remembers grappling with depression from a very young age.
“I didn’t have a really good sleep routine, I didn’t exercise, I wasn’t doing any sports at school, I didn’t really do any after-school activities,” the media personality, who became a household name while starring on the MTV reality series The Osbournes alongside his father Ozzy Osbourne, mom Sharon and sister Kelly, tells Yahoo Life. “[It was] not the healthiest teen lifestyle, which was very much a contributing factor to my mental health. And as time went on, I fell into drugs and alcohol, and that was something that took its toll really quickly.”
The now-38-year-old remembers The Osbournes still being on the air while he dealt with outside pressures and family issues. “I just kind of spiraled, and I was using drugs and alcohol as my way to cope,” he shares. “It was a wild time.”
At one point, Osbourne says his depression had “really taken over.” “I was having a lot of suicidal thoughts and some attempts, and I still was kind of just pushing through it, and trying to just ignore it and pretend like it didn’t happen,” he remembers. Soon, “things came to a head.”
”I think my family really saw what was going on,” says Osbourne. “They realized, ‘Oh, wait, this is a huge problem.’”
That’s when he agreed to go into treatment. “The solution to getting things under control was getting sober [and] throwing myself into 12-step recovery, and it laid a foundation and allowed me to build upon and figure out what works for me in life and what doesn’t,” he says.
The Ghosts and Grit podcast host also credits his recovery and sobriety to “amazing friendships” with guys his age. “We were all kind of going through this journey together, and having a community really helped [with] working [on] steps,” recalls Osbourne.
As he moved into adulthood, he began to reflect on who he wanted to be, who he was and the direction he wanted to go in. “I think the biggest takeaway [from] what I’ve gone through is that there’s such a rush in our society to find the quick fix,” says Osbourne. “But life doesn’t work that way. When it comes to mental health, it’s a journey, and it’s something that takes action, and it takes time.”
And when Osbourne was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis three weeks after welcoming his daughter Pearl, the Travel Channel star found a new coping tool: fatherhood. “There were a couple of weeks where I got kind of down and depressed,” says Osbourne, now a dad of four. “My daughter Pearl had just been born. I didn’t have much time to spiral out. I had my kind of pity party for a minute, and then I started to realize like, Oh, OK, it’s not bad right now. It’s OK, right now, it’s manageable. I’m taking steps and doing what I’ve got to do to try and get this thing under control. My priority at that time was my daughter. I knew I had to show up for her. It was definitely a saving grace.”
Osbourne continues to derive “a lot of joy” from his family. “My daughters and my wife and my parents — I just enjoy their company,” he says.
He has found that discussing mental health with his parents and sister on The Osbournes Podcast has been particularly fulfilling. “My dad’s pretty active doing weekly therapy and so is Kelly,” says Osbourne. “My mom [has] a very English stiff upper lip, ‘put your head down and just work through it’ kind of thing. She does check in occasionally. The thing that’s been nice about doing the podcast together is it’s almost like family therapy.”
And when he’s not spending time with loved ones or working, Osbourne is dedicated to reveling in his favorite activities. That’s key advice he says he often gives when working with people in recovery. “Find hobbies,” he says. “It’s been really important for me to have a lot of hobbies. It’s crucial. I don’t think hobbies are really pushed enough in society anymore. It’s always like, ‘Work. Get a job. Retire at 65,’ and it’s like, no, find hobbies you can do with friends and also find hobbies you can do alone — and hobbies that don’t involve drugs or alcohol, because [there is] so much focus in escapism.”
Osbourne’s most-loved pastimes include building Legos with his wife and spending time outdoors hunting and fishing. The TV host is also particularly fond of jiu-jitsu because it “keeps you in the present.” “It allows you a moment to just really have focused thought,” he notes. “You can’t let your mind wander, because if you let your mind wander, you’re not playing the game. [It’s] very much like chess in that sense. I just get so much out of it.”
Ultimately, Osbourne is focused on “embracing the adventure.” “I think there’s so much emphasis on, ‘You’ve got to do this or to have all this stuff to be happy,’” he says. “For me, [it’s about] changing the mindset. You could have the most mundane job ever, but your life is still an adventure. Everyone’s life is an adventure, because it’s a unique experience to them.”
