On Thursday July 20, the music world mourned the loss of another great musician. Chester Bennington, the lead singer of Linkin Park, died of an apparent suicide by hanging. He was 41 years old and is succeeded by his wife and six children. This comes just 2 months and 2 days after Soundgarden and Audioslave frontman Chris Cornell hung himself to death following a concert.

Bennington’s suicide occurred on what would have been Cornell’s 53rd birthday. He had previously been candid about his struggles with drug addiction, anxiety, and depression, as well as being molested as a child. Many of Linkin Park’s hit songs, including “In The End” and “Numb” were written about Bennington’s drug and alcohol addiction.

The two musicians had a very close friendship leading up to their deaths. Linkin Park and Chris Cornell went on tour together and performed a duet of the band’s single “Crawling”. After Cornell’s death, Chester penned an emotional letter to Chris and posted it to his Twitter. The letter reads in full:

Chester Bennington also performed Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” at Cornell’s funeral. It was not a coincidence that Chester chose to take his life on Chris’ birthday. He had recently been candid about inner demons and feelings of being personally responsible for his emotional struggles.

The recent hangings of Chester Bennington and Chris Cornell are similar to that of actor Robin Williams. All three men have been battling personal demons that led them to do the irreversible. However, they are not the only ones who have felt ever this way.

Many Americans are battling mental illnesses, and some may not even be aware of it. According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, “1 in 5 Americans experiences mental illness in a given year. 1 in 25 Americans have a serious ailment that interferes with one or more major life activity.” Check out https://www.nami.org/Learn-More/Mental-Health-By-t... for additional information.

From the fear of confrontation to recent uncertainty regarding health insurance, the choice to end their lives may seem to be the most effective. Or they feel lost and helpless beyond comfort. Whatever the circumstances, suicide seems inevitable for some. But help is only one phone call away.

Family members and close friends will be more than willing to listen to you vent about your problems and help you get the help you need. If it’s an urgent situation, there are plenty of crisis centers throughout the country that you can go to, or call your local authorities for immediate assistance.

Now I know that some people cannot be saved. But there is someone out there who can at least try to help you, even if they cannot empathize your pain. Suicide is a PERMANENT solution to a TEMPORARY problem. As Chester Bennington once sang in the Linkin Park song "In The End", "It starts with one."

For anyone who is contemplating or knows someone who is contemplating suicide, the National Suicide Prevention Hotline is available 24/7 and can be reached at 1-800-273-TALK (8255).