In the wake of Chester Bennington's passing, I'm taken back to my memories of swim meets during the summer when I'd listen to Linkin Park before we raced. One of their songs, New Divide, was in our team slideshow one year and it was truly one of those great motivational songs before you hit the water. Linkin Park was one of my favorite groups growing up, and hearing the news of Chester's suicide is something so profoundly shocking to me.

I heard someone discussing that it was almost foreshadowed, seeing that in all of his songs you could hear a kind of agony in the lyrics. He was in pain and made it into his music. This isn't unique to the music community, it's something that has happened and continues to happen. Because in all honesty, art seems to come from pain more often than it comes from joy.

Even when I write, I find that pain is a fueling force- whether that pain is anger over a controversy, struggle in my personal life, or longing for a better world, it's easier to write sometimes because the words flow when the pain is present. Happiness is a great state to be in, but the artwork it produces is simply different.

And when I heard someone talking about Chester's lyrics and how his art reflected his pain, so much dawned on me. It was so obvious, and yet we lost him and we continue to lose our loved ones too soon to suicide.

Chester had some kind of an outlet, and it still didn't save him. What about the kids who don't have an outlet? What about the kids who can't talk about it, feel like there is no escape? What about them?

Linkin Park felt like a piece of my childhood, and their music seemed like such a normal part of life- you'd catch it on the radio or in the background of a movie or TV show. But like their classic songs Numb and In The End, mental illness is something so commonplace. Yet we still don't talk about it the right way.

I think it's time to have better conversations about mental health. I think these conversations should be approached like those awkward human growth and reproduction courses you have in 5th grade or sex ed. We need to be taught how to approach this from our early years.

Why? Because it's so often that I hear people in my own life calling anxiety someone being dramatic, or someone's mental health problem becoming entirely normalized by the language of another.

The truth is that problems like anxiety, depression, and other mental health problems are so much more common than we think. So many people suffer and fight huge mental battles every day, battles they don't even know how to talk about.

Because when it's too dramatic to someone else, who wants to vent about their worries and problems? Who wants to be seen as weak? Nobody wants to be seen as having a problem or lacking strength.

Being able to ask for help or talk about your struggle is the truest form of strength, but it's hard for so many of us to see that when the struggle is our own.

If we instead approach mental health like a Linkin Park song on the radio, like the common cold, like it's routine and normal and something that should be engaged in and spoken about, we're bound to save lives.

I know that I have had moments where I've struggled, and I know that talking is so important, but in that moment, when your head is spinning and you're thinking about everything and anxiety is tearing you apart, how easy is it to open up? Not easy at all.

Mental health needs to be a bigger discussion, and we're getting there. But what it really needs to be is a more honest, more open, and more embracing discussion where people who suffer feel safe, where people who worry feel welcome, and where those who are at a breaking point can be brought back from the mental ledge that Chester couldn't be saved from.

Mental illness is not simple, but it's far too common for it to be taking more lives. What I mean by that is that we can all use our struggles and skills to come together and help each other out. It's not hard. It's just about how we talk, engage, and interact.

Instead of calling someone who is opening up about anxiety dramatic, hear them out. Instead of finding excuses for worrying or feeling depressed, try to understand. And instead of a climbing suicide rate, we'll see healthier lives across the board.

Life is not easy for everyone. The demons we face in our heads can become our demons on the outside. It's each of our jobs to be the kind of person who quiets the demons our friends and loved ones face. Even if it's just for a moment, just by taking some time to listen and notice a struggle. We are all responsible and will all be held accountable for the lives lost to suicide and mental illness. We have to fight it together.