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Chester Bennington's family share heartfelt video for National Suicide Prevention Week

[Photo by: Linkin Park/Instagram]

Chester Bennington's family have taken National Suicide Prevention Week as a chance to honor Chester as well as raise awareness for those who may be struggling. See how his son Dravin and other members of Bennington's family have used their platform, below.

Read more: Linkin Park's Mike Shinoda says we can expect “announcements this week”

Earlier this week, Bennington's son Dravin filmed a spot for National Suicide Prevention week, making a pledge not only to himself but to others as well to seek help when feeling depressed.

“I want to make a commitment that I will talk to someone before I hurt myself, when I’m feeling depressed or sad or going through a hard week or month or year. And I want to challenge you to do the same, to help yourself, not hurt yourself.”

Dravin filmed a second spot with his mother, Chester's first wife Samantha, where he goes on to discuss how he is coping with the aftermath of his father's death. 

“It still doesn’t feel like it actually happened. Maybe he’ll pop back in. It’s hard cause sometimes you just sit down and you start thinking about it, like I came across old home videos that he had and things like that and it sucks.” 
 

Talinda Bennington took to Twitter to make a powerful statement. “Depression doesn't have a face or mood” she tweeted just before sharing a video of Chester just 36 hours before his death. The video shows Bennington with his son and other family members playing a game and enjoying their time together. 

Talinda's son Tyler drew a picture which Talinda shared on his behalf.

Earlier in the week Talinda made an appearance on Nikki Sixx's radio show Sixx Sense where she states, “The loss of my husband just left such a gap in our world, and I feel like his death is kind of the straw that broke the camel’s back with this. He’s left me with such a huge platform to be able to be heard, and that’s what I plan on doing in his name, in his honor.” 

Talinda goes on to tell Sixx how seeing LP fans hurting weighed heavy on her heart.

“I started to notice that fans were saying they were hurting, and they didn’t know what to do. And it weighed heavily on my heart, because their words were comforting me. And I just thought to myself, ‘You know what? What if we could just talk to each other?'” She later adds, “When there’d be somebody that was hurting, I just, ‘LP family.’ And then it became so widespread, [with] support from some other musicians and their fanbase. And now it’s just a call to help. When somebody is hurting, I just use my followers and ask them to lift one another up. So that’s how it all got started.”

You can listen to the full podcast below.

If you or someone you know is struggling with mental illness, there is help to be found.  Please consider these online resources and talk to your regular doctor about your symptoms:

MentalHealth.gov – Get Immediate Help
ImAlive – Online Crisis Network
International Association For Suicide Prevention – Resources
The Anxiety And Depression Association Of America
The National Alliance On Mental Illness
American Psychiatric Association – Finding Help
National Institute Of Mental Health
American Psychological Association – Psychologist locator

Watch more: Frank Zummo's drum tribute to Linkin Park's Chester Bennington