I attended a show last night with a good friend. As we waited to go inside, he teased me about all my musician crushes. Eddie Vedder, Dave Grohl, Chris Cornell. I told him that Chris was my one true love and that, was he not married with two kids, I would stalk him until he married me. That made my friend laugh; little does he know me.
This morning I woke up to the news that Chris had died. I sat in shock for a moment then went to read every article I could find. As soon as I saw that they suspect that he committed suicide I lost it. My heart broke. I felt like throwing up. In the middle of mental health awareness month, one of my icons committed suicide. A few months ago I was in his shoes in my depression.
Chris was a husband, a father of two children, a rock legend. He had been sober for years. He was respected, loved, admired and had "everything" to live for, and yet, in the end, his demons won.
I want to remind everyone how important it is to destigmatize depression and other forms of mental illness. There are so many people suffering in silence, so close to the edge, and we need to do more to bring light to the subject and help those in need.
If someone who seemed to have it all can hide their pain so well that one day they are tweeting about how amazing life is and that night end it, it is painfully clear that we as loving people, must step up and reach out.
Sleep peacefully, my friend
No comments:
Post a Comment