Rick Ness, a mainstay of Discoverys Gold Rush, took a year off from work, largely disappearing from Gold Rushs 13th season to spend a "lot of time" on his own and come to terms with his personal issues. In Season 13, Episode 2, fans find out what exactly happened to Rick after one of his crew decides to visit him at his home. It was revealed that Rick was suffering from Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), a type of depression thats related to changes in seasons. Rick admitted to Zee that he believes hes suffering from SAD and that he never used to struggle with depression, which made it hard for him to pinpoint it as the cause of his lackluster emotions as of late. Life continued to fall apart with the 42-year-old further entering into a depression, turning to drugs to numb the pain. Ness sold his mom’s house and hoped to rebuild what was lost with Brian “Zee” Zaremba by his side. Ness was devastated after losing his mom and all the money he garnered from more than a decade in the industry. However, Rick Ness is back in the Gold Rush for season 14 of the popular Discovery Channel series, and he hopes to turn his life around.