Marilyn Manson's life has improved since he quit drinking absinthe.

The 46-year-old rock star stopped drinking the beverage as he tried to cure his unhappiness, which was caused by the ending of his relationship with actress Evan Rachel Wood.

The 'Tainted Love' hitmaker said: ''The absinthe I was drinking had wormwood, which not only Biblically was what God sent down to poison all the sinners, it affects your temporal lobe.

''It can convince you that you're not schizophrenic ... or that you are.''

What's more, Marilyn revealed he cut himself off from his friends after his on/off relationship with the 27-year-old actress came to an end.

He told the Daily Mirror newspaper: ''I became a recluse. It started to snowball into getting lost.

''I had the windows blacked out, it was freezing cold, and you could never tell whether it was night or day.

''The backyard was a parking lot for a liquor store, where hobos slept. It was a haunted house - haunted by behaviour.''

The star, whose real name is Brian Hugh Warner, said a lack of sleep was threatening to drive him ''insane''.

He explained: ''I used to go to bed at 6am, now I get up at 6am.

''I used to believe that 3am was my peak hour creatively, because the wheels were going. But it becomes something that can drive you insane because you can't sleep.''