After being plagued by legal and marital troubles in the early 2000s, Creed frontman Scott Stapp says he's come a long way and is heading out on a solo tour early next year.

"We've come a long way in the past year. Me, my wife and my family," Stapp said in an interview Wednesday with the Buzz Adams Morning Show.

Stapp discussed the legal and marital issues that resulted in him facing charges varying from reckless driving, to domestic assault from incidents that took place between 2002 and 2007, and said his bizarre and reckless behavior at the time can be traced to his then-undiagnosed bipolar disorder.

"It was a lot of work, but I think finally finding out what was causing a lot of the problems and how to overcome that has really been good for us, and really healing. When you're realizing that someone is sick it kinda opens your eyes on what you're dealing with and you take it less personal."

Stapp said he has been battling depression since 1998 and that when it first set in, he was uneducated about it.

You would think that, at the time, all my dreams are coming true, I had four straight No. 1 singles, my first record selling millions of copies and I'm having a blast with my best friends in the world, there's no reason to be depressed.

"We found out what I have been dealing with is bipolar disorder and manic depression. It's a disease and we finally know now how to treat it, and how to move forward," he said.

Stapp said he is currently treating his disorder with medication, therapy and changes to his lifestyle and diet.

Buzz asked Stapp, "It seems like it was '98 right when you guys [Creed] were hitting it huge. What does it mean that you started having depression right as the best things in the world were happening to you?"

"I think it goes to show that this is a physiology and biological disease that has nothing to do with what's going on in your life at the time," Stapp said. "I was in my early 20s, which I've learned is a pretty typical onset for manic depression and bipolar disorder and I just kinda followed the statistics on that. You would think that, at the time, all my dreams are coming true, I had four straight No. 1 singles, my first record selling millions of copies and I'm having a blast with my best friends in the world, there's no reason to be depressed."

"Looking back on my music, I realize I was probably battling this a long time before that. I mean, look at the title of the first song, the title of the album, I mean, My Own Prison — that's someone who's dealing and battling with something," Stapp said.

The domestic charges brought against Stapp were later dropped, and he made a public apology to his wife, Jaclyn, to whom he's still married. He said that he now realizes that despite wild accusations he made against Jaclyn at the time, she was always just trying to protect him.

"I was in a state where the chemicals in my brain were out of whack, causing me to have a tremendous amount of delusions. I was not stable and she was doing everything she could do to try and protect me."

I think it's crazy how, in the midst of crisis, things can turn around and bring people together.

Scott and Jaclyn appeared on this past season of VH1's Couples Therapy.

"We really took it as an opportunity not only to grow as a couple and to work through what happened a year ago, but also we realized there's a lot of other people that are suffering out there and there's a lot of families that are dealing with these types of situations. We thought possibly this could be a way for us to share our story and share what we've done and begin to overcome it."

As for his former Creed bandmates? Stapp says he still talks to them and that everyone is on good terms.

"We're all working on differing things right now and we'll see what happens in the future," he said.

According to Stapp, Mark Tremonti, Brian Marshall and Scott Phillips were all supportive during his struggles.

"I think they were really concerned and they reached out to me during that time, trying to help. I think it's crazy how, in the midst of crisis, things can turn around and bring people together."

Scott Stapp is doing a solo tour, which will be coming to Dallas on Feb. 10. You can get tickets here and listen to Wednesday's full interview (Including Stapp busting out a line of With Arms Wide Open for us and telling us how his teenage son uses the song to make fun of him) below:

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