What's wrong with Pete Wentz?

Pete Wentz

is high:

The Fall Out Boy bassist and lyricist's so-called pop-punk band (it's a chimerical hybrid! It's like Johnny Rotten singing for The Polka Pistols) has reached the heights of commercial lovability with Infinity on High, which has debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard album charts, selling 260K CDs.

But all does not seem well with the Wilmette, Ill., native. In an interview with Blender, Wentz, who reportedly attempted suicide in February '05, says he's way dosed on a fat cocktail of psychotropics: "Lorazepam, which is basically Xanax; Flexeril, which is a muscle relaxant; Seroquel; and I think there would probably be Zoloft in there."

Wicked sexy pot of pills, yeah? Um, not really: Seroquel is used to treat "acute mania associated with bipolar I disorder," its Web site says. And Zoloft is your garden-variety post-Prozac selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) used for depression and anxiety.

This is not your typical street-drug mix. It's the sort of stuff usually prescribed for folks diagnosed with depression or bipolar disorder.

What's troubling is that Wentz says that "with medication, doctors will say one thing, and I'm like, 'Eh, I'll just mix and match.' " His reasons for making such a frank admission are obscure. A call for help?

Pete, who used to have a rep as a straight-edge rocker (a hipster who swears off hipster crutches such as cigs, booze, drugs), says he still loves to strip in front of people and he's kissed guys: "Anybody above the waist is totally fair game." (A man of deep contradictions, he also says, "I tend to be a bit prudish.")

This is a complex man. An artist (and hit maker!). Complex men are worrisome.

- Tirdad Derakhshani