The frontman of the group O5 and Radeček has had a successful period behind him. In the fall, Tomáš Polák and his band scored points in the Golden Nightingale poll, and the singer of the Šumper band welcomed a third child into the world. At the same time, however, he struggled with protracted health problems, which he hid.
It all started years ago with problems with the vocal cords. “I had huge tonsils, another thing, since I was young I’ve been very allergic to everything. I had chronic neck problems for five years, they operated on my nasal obstruction, and the most important thing for my singing was the tearing of my tonsils,” the singer confided, adding that after that his health complications improved for some time. It had an effect on his singing, and the band gradually began to prosper.
“Since 2015, I have started to solve problems with my voice with the phoniatrician in a comprehensive way,” confided the musician, who regularly suffered from reflux, in the new episode of the 13th Chamber program. “The problems with the reflux started to escalate to the point where I didn’t know if I was going to finish the concert. And from that came the mental problems of whether I could do it all. One concert ended and I was already worried if I would be able to sing the second one,” confided Tomáš, who was finally helped by the treatment and was problem-free for several years.
Everything took a turn last year, Tomáš was under pressure and the reflux came back, from the stress of failing on stage, he started drinking to get his courage. “The alcohol works quite well against anxiety. Especially in the evening, I was used to sitting down and taking a shot to relieve stress,” Tomáš confided. “You drink to not be afraid, but alcohol harms the reflux,” revealed the leader of the successful band in the premiere episode of the show.
“A year and a half ago, the phoniatrician offered me work with a psychiatrist and the use of antidepressants, but I didn’t want to go through with it, so I dealt with it with lexaurin. Then in February 2023, our biggest and most successful tour came, and instead of being happy that we were at the top and everything was going well, the huge responsibility started to affect me,” confided Tomáš, who took medication and also helped himself with alcohol.
“No one in the band knew about the drugs. My wife found out about it completely by accident, she was terribly scared, she got me in touch with a psychologist and made me call him,” confided the musician, adding that he subsequently started going to therapy and taking antidepressants. Everything happened at a time when he and his wife were expecting their third child. His voice problems eventually subsided, he is better today and is gradually weaning off antidepressants. “If I want to be at ease and not be afraid that I won’t be able to sing the concerts, it’s not about grabbing something and taking a shot, I have to live responsibly to help the whole thing,” added Tomáš Polák, who fortunately realized everything in time.
