Depeche Mode frontman Dave Gahan believes he was especially prone to becoming a drug addict because he has always liked to separate himself from reality.

Gahan, who was addicted to heroin in the mid-1990s and attempted suicide before cleaning up, used to rely on music as a support mechanism before succumbing to hard drugs.

He says, "For as long as I can remember I've had this shield between me and life. As a teenager it was music. Then it was Depeche - that was my identity.

"Then that identity stopped working and the drugs and booze really kicked in as a new identity. I became lost."