Chester Bennington's widow launches mental health campaign

8 March 2018

Chester Bennington's widow will honour the late star by launching a mental health campaign on his birthday.

Chester Bennington

The Linkin Park front man - who tragically took his own life in July last year - would have turned 42 on March 20, and his wife Talinda Bennington wants to keep his memory alive and try to help other people who are struggling with their own issues.

Taking to social media on Wednesday (07.03.18), she posted to her Twitter followers: "To honor @ChesterBe Bday - I'm asking you to Change Direction. On March 20th, Post a pic holding up your hand, which symbolizes you know the 5 signs of emotional well-being. Write 'I AM THE CHANGE' on your hand. Bcuz the change begins within ourselves. (sic)"

The Campaign to Change Direction refers to the healthy habits of emotional wellbeing (take care, check in, engage, relax and know), the latter of which refers to the signs that someone could need help - personality change, agitated, withdrawal, poor self-care and hopelessness.

News of the campaign's launch comes after Talinda revealed earlier this year that she has been blamed for his suicide by "cruel" online bullies.

Discussing mental health at the Canadian Event Safety Summit, she explained: "As much as social media has been a huge support for me, I do every now and then get people blaming me - straight-up blaming me - for him dying, for not saving him, for mistreating him.

"Who knows why these people behind their devices are saying these horribly cruel things to me? But, you know, it is a little stab in the heart, but what I have to remember is that it's not my fault, it's not my children's fault, it's not the band's faults - it's nobody's fault."

Although Talinda admitted it was naive, she did explain how she thought her husband - who had been sober for six months - was "in the clear" with his demons.

She added: "My husband had had a past ... in the past, he had attempted suicide, but I thought to myself, 'It was 'cause he was wasted. He was this or that'.

"So [before] he did pass, I thought very naively, we were in the clear. We had a very, very dear friend, Chris Cornell, take his own life. And I felt that, 'OK, Chester sees what Vicky and [their] kids' - we're godparents to their children - 'what they're going through and this will never happen.'"