If you or someone you know is struggling, please contact: The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at
1-800-273-8255 or The Crisis Text Line at 741741 from anywhere in the USA to text with a trained Crisis Counselor.

I was scrolling through Facebook, deciding that TMZ wasn’t a reputable news source, when the news of Chester Bennington’s apparent suicide came out into the world. There have been rumors before and the way that Linkin Park’s career had been going, I really did believe that it was a joke or maybe I just really wanted to believe that someone with such an incredible career and apparent happy life couldn’t possibly be capable of taking their own life. Tragically, it was confirmed that on July 20, 2017, Chester Bennington, lead singer of the well-known rock band Linkin Park, had in fact taken his own life, leaving his wife, children, and many friends and fans to begin the journey of stringing together some sense out of this tragedy.

Chester Bennington was very open about his struggles with depression and addiction and his music served as an outlet for many, including himself, to be open about those struggles. There is no doubt that his life and musical legacy will live on, but he also left us with the need to open the dialogue for mental health again.

In the midst of this tragedy, we have to remember to keep the conversation open when it comes to mental health. We have to be willing to reach out to people who could be struggling, but also be willing to reach out ourselves when we feel ourselves struggling. Depression and addictions do not discriminate against race, age, gender, or wealth status. These are the hard conversations that have to be had. They are the ones that change people’s lives and possibly save people lives. These are the conversations we have to be having after a tragedy like this.

Even though it may be difficult or near impossible to make sense of a situation like this, it’s important that if we’re still here to make it our mission to stay here and help others do the same. Chester’s death reminds us that the road to recovery is long and never ending but that we have to stick around to see what comes next. Life is a mix of good and bad and the bad is never permanent, no matter how many times it may seem that way. Keep the conversation open, reach out to people, if you can’t find a good person: be one. There is too much struggle in the world to go into this alone, take care of yourselves and each other.