Co-founder of the Beach Boys and late musical pioneer Brian Wilson was a true embodiment of a tortured artist, creating some of the most iconic pop songs of all time while suffering through debilitating mental health issues and substance abuse problems that would plague much of his life through the latter half of the 20th century. Wilson suffered his first mental breakdown in the mid-1960s, which led to his departure from touring with his band. He adopted a more background (and reclusive) creative role.
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By 1975, Wilson connected with controversial celebrity psychologist Eugene Landy. This would be the start of a tumultuous relationship, out of which came new musical works, multiple legal battles, and Landy’s eventual surrender of his psychological license to the state of California.
But before Landy was found guilty of ethical and license code violations, he (or, more specifically, one of his associates) allegedly saved Wilson’s life in a more literal sense during the summer of 1985.
How The Musician and Celebrity Psychologist Met
Following his departure from touring with the Beach Boys, co-founder Brian Wilson delved deeper into substance abuse. He attempted to self-medicate his depression with c******, psychedelics, and alcohol, falling into a cycle of unhealthy patterns that led to a significant worsening of his mental and physical health. Wilson would eventually receive a diagnosis of schizoaffective disorder, which can produce hallucinations, paranoia, depression, and mania. Wilson’s family struggled to find a health care provider who could appropriately treat the musician. Then, they found Eugene Landy.
Landy had a reputation for being a celebrity psychiatrist with famous patients like Alice Cooper and Richard Harris. “I’ve treated a tremendous number of people in show business,” Landy told Rolling Stone in 1976. “For some reason, I seem to be able to relate to them. I think I have a nice reputation that says I’m unorthodox by orthodox standards but basically unique by unorthodox standards.”
Those “unorthodox” practices included using a team of associates, including psychiatrists, physicians, shrinks, and other colleagues to administer care to Landy’s patients. According to Landy, Wilson was “suffering from scared. He was not able to deal with frightened or even have a response to frightened and therefore lived in the area of fantasy for a while. He’s in the process of returning from fantasy every day more and more.”
But as Landy admitted himself during his 1976 conversation with Rolling Stone, he was “outrageously expensive.” After the psychologist upped his rates to somewhere around the modern-day equivalent of over $100,000, the Wilson family opted to find a different practitioner for the troubled musician.
Brian Wilson Was Saved By Eugene Landy Associate
Brian Wilson suffered from an overdose of a toxic mix of alcohol and drugs in 1982, after which the family re-hired Eugene Landy to treat Wilson once again. Landy’s relationship with his client became closer and closer, controversially so, until Landy was effectively co-writing music with Wilson and ghostwriting his memoir. People close to Wilson began accusing Landy of overstepping his boundaries as Wilson’s psychologist. At one point, Landy said he and Wilson were “partners in life” who had “exchanged names” to “Brian Landy Wilson” and “Eugene Wilson Landy,” per Catch a Wave.
Although Wilson would generally sing Landy’s praises, refuting claims that his psychologist was taking over his life, the Beach Boys co-founder had brief episodes of disdain for the mental health provider. “I live in a strange hell,” Wilson once said of his doctor-client relationship. “I’m a prisoner, and I have no hope of escaping.” Gary Usher, a songwriter and producer who worked closely with Wilson, said that the “Good Vibrations” songwriter claimed to wake up and scream into his pillow until he lost his voice to try and process his complex emotions toward Landy.
Wilson also claimed that, during his second treatment by Landy in the summer of 1985, he attempted suicide by swimming out to sea. One of Landy’s associates noticed Wilson swimming further into the ocean and chased after him, pulling him back to shore and effectively saving his life. Despite the controversy between Wilson and Landy that would follow this harrowing experience, Wilson later said, “I still feel that there was benefit [to Landy’s care]. I try to overlook the bad stuff and be thankful for what he taught me.”
Photo by Andre Csillag/Shutterstock
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