The rock world has truly lost an iconic voice to a dark, unforeseen force. Following Thursday’s unsettling news of Linkin Park vocalist Chester Bennington’s tragic suicide, It’s time to have a talk on the touchy, unsettling, and gruesome thing suicide truly is.
As awful as suicide is, it’s most important in this day and age that we talk about the importance of awareness and gestures of help to those in need. Suicide awareness has been a heavy topic in today’s pop culture, especially with the Netflix craze ’13 Reasons Why’ stealing the spotlight and highlighting the warning signs, effects, and traumatizing experiences for all of those affiliated with those who take their life.
First off, there could be a number of reasons why a person commits the unspeakable, however, it’s something that we cannot necessarily understand since we’re not that person. It’s believed that usually there’s a chemical imbalance when a person suffers from severe depression, but that is all in theory. For the most part, mental illness and traumatic experiences that have gone unnoticed or untreated usually lead to an individual taking their life. They end up thinking it’s a last resort and nothing, absolutely nothing can change the outcome of how they’re feeling.
However, they’re most certainly wrong.
It can be hard to see the light at the end of a dark tunnel, but as time goes on, that light will become brighter and brighter until you’re consumed and illuminated. It just takes time. A lot of people choose the “easy way out” because they’re sick and tired of feeling a certain way. I cannot speak for them, nor will I try to. I have no clue how terrible they felt inside, but I do know this; they didn’t know how severe the outcome of their suicide would be, and they had no clue that it was a permanent solution to a temporary problem.
When a person is at the stage where they want to take their life, they’re clouded. They don’t realize that their surroundings will be affected. They believe its a single problem with one solution involving only themselves. This doesn’t mean they’re selfish, or cowardly; they’re just not thinking properly and clearly. Again, this is usually because of the chemical imbalance theory, but there’s also another idea that helps said theory.
When you’re stuck in a single mindset, say that nobody cares about you and that you’re all alone for such a long time, your mind will no longer be able to retrieve any healthy, happy, and fun thoughts. You would’ve trained your mind to only think about the bad times and not the good. It’s an unhealthy mindset, to say the least, but there’s always a solution to fixing that.
No human is broken completely. We get cracked, bent, and tangled, but we can always get put back together.One thing that helps is talking to somebody. Anybody can help. They care, they really do. Whether it’s a therapist, a friend, or someone on the suicide hotline, it’s somebody who cares. And don’t even think that you don’t have somebody who cares about you, because you do!
If you ever feel depressed, hurt, or even on the edge of suicide, talk to someone. It may be hard, but it’ll help. Suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary problem. We’re here for you, and so are a lot of people. It just takes a little bit of eye opening to notice.
For those of you as friends, family, or even bystanders. If you feel like something isn’t right with someone, urge them to talk and don’t turn your back on them. Be understanding, loving, and most importantly, accepting.
Life is such a lovely thing, so let’s live it to our fullest and do everything possible to make it better as a community.
If you’re ever feeling depressed or suicidal, call the Suicide Prevention Hotline at :1-800-273-8255
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