The Inspirational and Tragic Story of Chester Bennington
The Importance of Speaking Out On Mental Health
I had recently been shuffling through my playlist and listening to some of the older songs I had stored on my phone, which I had not picked up in a while. Then, I came across the Linkin park collection, something which immediately threw me back to the days of musical icon Chester Bennington and some of the outstanding music he had created while he was still alive. It has only been a few years since the late star had tragically taken his own life after suffering through years of depression and substance abuse, but it feels like it has been an eternity since. So, as we approach the fourth year marking the death anniversary of Bennington, I wanted to take this time to talk a little bit about his story and the important lesson we can all learn from him when it comes to the topic of mental health.
Before his death, many Linkin Park fans saw Bennington as one of the strongest and most inspirational figures in the music industry. As the lead vocalist in the band, he was the voice behind many of the group’s songs which occasionally talked about the importance of speaking up about mental health and the problems we all face in life; It has to be said that his music was nothing short of inspirational and it helped contribute towards uplifting the lives of hundreds of thousands of fans worldwide. One song, in particular, One More Light, was a single which spoke personally about losing loved ones and the importance of letting people know you care. It was iconic as the single moved Bennington the most out of any song he played during live performances. It ended up being the song dedicated personally to him after taking his own life nearly four years ago.
Despite being an outspoken advocate for mental health throughout his musical career with Linkin Park, Bennington had suffered heavily from depression and substance abuse throughout his life. The hardship in his life started from his childhood due to being personally abused and turning to alcohol and drugs at a young age to cope with feelings of pain and loneliness. But despite this, Bennington managed to realise his dreams of becoming a musical star with the success of Linkin Park and dedicated much of his career to spreading the word about mental health and advocating for people to take the topic seriously.
After spending the past week listening to most of the band’s music, I decided to listen to a few podcasts on which Bennington appeared. In most of these podcasts, he spoke very openly about mental health and many of the problems he had been facing in his own life despite having great levels of fame and success after years of working with the band. He spoke about his frequent relapses, which caused him to pick up drugs and alcohol many times and spoke extensively about his many attempts to combat those dark feelings plaguing his mind for years. Despite being open about his mental health and the relapses he had been having over the years, the band was still shocked to hear about his suicide and felt like they might have overlooked some of the more dangerous warnings signs in his behaviour leading up to it.
Conclusion
In my mind, there is a compelling lesson behind Bennington and the important cause he represented by advocating for mental health awareness. He was an inspiration for millions of people around the world. But Bennington’s life was not in vain, and the lessons he wanted to share should speak volumes to us no matter where we are in life right now. Regardless of where you go, what you do, and how successful you end up in life, your mental health is still important, and no set of circumstances will ever change that. There is no obligation that you should force yourself to feel happy or content if you are struggling with problems deep down, which is why it is important to speak up about mental health and remove the stigma surrounding the conversation as a whole. Bennington was one of the many inspirational voices which started that movement. Hopefully, we can continue spreading his message across the world.
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