Why do we feel depression?

Can we even handle it?

Bos Eriko Reyes
Jul 22, 2017 · 3 min read

It’s 2:00 in the morning. I’m sleeping. Then all of a sudden my brother who is using the computer read a news out loud. I’m half awake but I stood up as soon as I heard what he was talking about. “Chester Bennington was found dead in his private home in LA.” Apparently, he hanged himself. He couldn’t handle the depression. It was a sad day for all Linkin Park fans.

But why? What was the cause of his depression? Before he died, Linkin Park was able to make their last album together called “One More Light.” Some songs are about motivation while some are about depression. One of the depressing song inside the album is called “Heavy.” A part of the song says “If I just let go I’d be set free.” You can think of it in two ways, let go as in let go of your life or let go as in let go of your problems. Chester probably took the lyrics with the former as its meaning.

Chester hanged himself at the 20th of July. It was his dead friend’s birthday; it was Chris Cornell’s birthday. Chris Cornell also hanged himself to death back in May.

Stacking up problems that are so unnecessary.

A friend who did suicide and a tour singing Heavy over and over again. For a man struggling with depression from time to time things were getting crazy. In the end… it does matter. Millions of fans were left behind, friends and family were left behind. It was so sudden. I took it personally as well, to be honest, because Hybrid Theory was part of my childhood. It was the best selling album from the 2000s until now.

Can we handle depression?

I think one of the reasons why an individual feels depressed is because they don’t know where to go. They begin to feel lost. They lose their sense of purpose. As humans we are driven by our goals. I also read about a topic called “Logotherapy” from a book called “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.” It is an idea that we humans are strongly motivated to live purposefully and meaningfully. I believe that. I don’t feel the need to do suicide because I have goals. Tons of them. I want to make them real.

A month ago I started a project called Ikigai Project. Basically, Ikigai means a reason for being. It is your reason for waking up in the morning. My aim for Ikigai Project is so that people can read our articles and get their own Ikigai. I want to explain many things to people so that they can understand. I want to explain complex ideas and hobbies in layman’s term. Maybe they’ll find their own Ikigai that way.

Chester’s death solidify Ikigai Project’s goal. I don’t want to see/hear something like that again. This is not a perfect world so what Chester did is bound to happen again but as much as possible I want to stop it. I want people to see their purpose.

Find your purpose. Have a goal. Reach it. Once you’ve reached it find another goal. Good luck!

If you’re suffering from depression or someone else is please call your country’s suicide prevention hotline. Almost all countries have one so don’t be afraid to contact them. They can save your life.

Bos Eriko Reyes

Written by

UI/UX Designer — Fullstack Website Developer using Javascript and Ruby

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