*Andrew Gillum, former Democratic gubernatorial, emerged on social media Monday to provide an update about his battle with depression and alcoholism.
Gillum has been in a self imposed exile following a wild night out in March involving a man who reportedly overdosed on crystal meth in a South Beach hotel room.
According to a police report, Gillum, who was in the room, was “unable to communicate with officers due to his inebriated state.”
Shortly after the headline making scandal, Gillum announced that he was entering rehab to deal with alcohol abuse.
In an 11-minute video posted Monday on Instagram, he addressed losing the 2018 governor’s race to Republican Ron DeSantis, and how it led to his downward spiral.
“I had totally underestimated the impact that losing the race for governor had had on my life, and on the way that those impacts started to show up in every aspect of my life,” said the father of three. “It was a constant reminder of failure and my own personal failures. … It was a reminder that I had let so many people down.”
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He also expressed gratitude for those who supported him through the rough patch.
“I am thankful to so many of you who have wished me well during this especially challenging time. I wanted to provide a personal update on how I have been doing,” he wrote. “Take good care of yourselves during this season and I will see you on the other side. Warmest, Andrew.”
Gillum noted that losing Florida’s governor race was the root cause of his depression.
“It was a constant reminder of failure, my own personal failures. It was a reminder that I had let so many people down. It was a chorus of this voice that I tried for so long to quiet. That depression around what I was experiencing there became far too much for me to keep down.”
He added, “A lot of times we think we’re dealing with it. We’re strong, and it bubbles up on the inside, but eventually, it’s gonna come out. I certainly know what it felt like to see that come out.”
In a statement following the March 12 incident at the hotel, Gillum said, “Since my race for governor ended, I fell into a depression that has led to alcohol abuse.”
Continuing, “I want to apologize to my family, friends and the people of Florida who have supported me and put their faith in me over the years”.
Four months after the incident, Gillum is sharing his road to recovery.
“I’m doing a lot of writing these days. I’m trying to put on paper a lot of what I’m experiencing, right now. If there was something I would want for you to take from me, it would be, don’t be like me. Don’t suffer in silence. Get access to the help that you need. So many of us think that we got to perpetrate this image of perfection. I know I did. The truth is, nobody has it all together. All of us are struggling and clawing at trying to be something else, when we [should be] trying to just be at home, in ourselves.”
View the entire video above.
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