‘One conversation’ can change a life, local musician says

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This article was published 26/03/2020 (2362 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Winnipeg musician and producer Rusty Matyas has offered a non-judgmental ear to anyone struggling with alcohol use right now.

The former Imaginary Cities member has been answering emails, texts and phone calls from people across Canada since sharing his contact information and an open invite to chat in a Facebook post Tuesday.

“It’s such a lonely place to be and when we’re already all lonely (alcohol) can be your only friend and it’s not actually a good friend,” he says.

Matyas has been alcohol-free since 2018 after he spent two weeks detoxing in the addictions unit at the Health Sciences Centre — a program he credits with saving his life. In an effort to give back, he became certified to run addiction-recovery meetings at HSC. Those meetings were cancelled this week owing to the coronavirus pandemic and Matyas is concerned the lack of in-person support will lead to relapses or worse.

“It’s easy to get right into it if you’re stuck in your house,” he says. “If there are people who are struggling anything like how I was struggling, their minds are constantly thinking about when the liquor stores are going to close for good.

“I’m sure it’s a very complicated and scary time for people who are having a problem with alcohol.”

While Matyas recognizes it can be hard to ask for and offer help, he is a big believer in the power of conversation.

“It can save lives, it really can,” he says. “Having one conversation about it with one person can trigger one thought that makes a difference; (it’s) the butterfly effect. Positive communication and support is so important.”

He also encourages those who are struggling to reach out to a mental-health crisis line, like the one operated by Klinic at 204-786-8686.

For Matyas, life before and after alcohol addiction is best described in musical terms.

“I sort of equate alcohol happiness and that dopamine dose to listening to a Green Day album — every song’s the same, it’s three chords, reliable,” he says. “The joy you get out of life once you get over the awful hump of not having the instant gratification of alcohol, those joys are like Radiohead albums; they take forever to get familiar with, but once you know them they provide you with a life of entertainment.”

eva.wasney@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @evawasney