A personal take on depression and the death of Chester Bennington

With the news of Chester Bennington’s death still hanging in the air, there are those who feel genuinely affected while others are indifferent. There is, however, another section of two special groups, one of whom don’t quite know how to deal with it and so they fill the internet with dank memes and dark humor; and the rest who are busy playing judge, jury and executioner, full of hot hatred and mean opinions. But does anyone stop for a moment to think about why people are reacting in such different ways?

I am not even sure where I am going with this but it was important for me to say something. I didn’t have all Linkin Park albums, I can’t even say I like or know all their songs but that doesn’t mean I pretend. It’s about those five to ten songs that spoke to me, the ones that made me pay attention, the reason I looked up the band, their albums, their live performances, all the way down to the individual artists, you all know how it goes.

My point is, Depression is as subtle as when you leave the house feeling good but four or five people look your way, and you automatically start to think that people know exactly what’s wrong with you and how glad they are not to be you. It is about that little influential voice in your head that is filled with so much negativity that eventually leads you to believe that’s who you are. Of course, there are many arguments about whether he was killed or whether it was just suicide but the band’s legacy, his legacy will live on.

They say if you want to overcome depressive thoughts you just have to ‘vibrate’ higher, but you know, there is the question of how you are supposed to get to the water you don’t have, if you need the same water to get to the water. It all depends with the current state of mind, it’s personal.

After all is said and done, may he rest in peace, as we hope the band will step up in a big way, because the truth is , he has left some pretty damn big shoes to fill.

Written by Bernice Nyambura