h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

i just wanted to point out that drugs were not what caused Syd to lose it. he was not a very mentally stable individual to begin with(his father died when he was pretty young). though the drugs certainly didnt help him overcome his problems(LSD put in his coffee and water by some stupid roadie when Syd didnt know about it) they were not the cause of them. he also didnt really break down until after he left the band(or got kicked out, depending on who you talk to).

Syd Barrett is an idol to me... the unfortuneate thing is he he started to lose it while with the band. He experimented with drugs way too much (Just look at him on the old live shows). His continuous experimentation started his mind downwards and after the failure of his songs... most notably Apples and Oranges the band decided it would be best work around it. The origional plan was to have Syd do studio work while Dave did live gigs (hence the rare Floyd 5 pics). Syd was unhappy with this arangement and left to do his solo albums... it was during this time that he finnaly lost it all and went into seclusion. The drugs themselves were the cause I fear... and it is a shame to have lost such a great musician.

Syd Barret was diagnosed with adolescent Schizophrenia, this is a mental illnes that can remain dormant for some time and show little symptoms here and there until becoming fully obvious. Drug use, especially of the hallucinagenic persuasion, is a big damn no no for people with any mental health issues and seriously damaged one of the greatest minds in music

im sorry 2 dissagree with u my good man but i believe syd did lose touch whilst still with the band,he was present at the recording of shine on and noone even recognised him .