The Struggle Within
By Brandon Morningstar
In light of recent deaths of some very famous musicians, I felt the need to write this piece. According to various sources singer Chris Cornell died by hanging himself. His death is yet another tragic tale of what I’m starting to call Unhappy Millionaire’s Syndrome. By no means am I minimizing anyone’s feelings towards his death. I was a fan of his too so I guess you could say that I’m still stunned by the circumstances of his untimely passing. So many of my favorite musicians over the years have died from various things, some of which being natural causes. Some have died due to some form of accident in a vehicle, still others have died either by what’s been determined as accidental overdoses and some have taken their own lives.
When I look back at when I myself thought of taking my own life, which by the way I tried twice and fortunately I was spared and saved, I’m finding it extremely challenging to understand and comprehend why so many of these musicians decided that ending their lives was the only way that they felt they deserved to leave this world. I can’t imagine in good conscience that a good majority of them set out to die from their actions but to perhaps just put themselves in such a state that they felt at peace. Some of them had demons that they were battling whether it was substance abuse of some form and others were battling some mental challenges as well. I’ve battled substance abuse in the past and I’m currently in recovery from various mental challenges. I’m overwhelmingly saddened that these individuals have lost their lives and succumbed to their demons. I’m trying to understand where they must’ve been mentally when those that decided to end their lives. Depression seems to be the most logical to me.
Depression is very powerful for a lot of people. For those that share the diagnosis of Bipolar, Depression can be even more difficult at times. Another thing that’s got my wheels spinning is that all these musicians were incredibly successful financially yet didn’t seek out treatment. Now granted money can’t buy everything but if you had the means to get the best treatments out there due to no financial restrictions, why didn’t you look into it? Were you worried about your pride, image, what your hardcore fan base would’ve thought, etc.? I myself don’t have the financial luxuries that famous people have for my treatment, so I have to do what I have to in order to get treated.
The music community isn’t the only group of people that have had people pass away from suicide or other tragic circumstances. It has hit Hollywood over the years too. So there have been many “unhappy” famous people. This isn’t meant to sound like a rant or to throw a bunch of dead people under the bus. It’s more of an awareness piece, to let people know it’s ok to have challenges. We’re not meant to be perfect. Don’t let your pride get in the way of taking care of your health in all facets. Be good to yourself even when facing hardcore emotions. Don’t take the easy way out of leaving life. Believe me when I say, you may not be as lucky as I am.