Talinda Bennington explains Chester’s posthumous impact

In a recent podcast with ABC News’ Life After Suicide, Chester Bennington’s widow opened up about the Linkin Park frontman’s mental state before his untimely death by suicide in July 2017. During Mental Health Awareness Month, Talinda Bennington revealed that she felt her late husband was in a “good place.”

Additionally, Talinda speaks about becoming an advocate for mental health since her husband’s passing.

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“We just thought he was OK,” Talinda says. “I can’t emphasize [that] enough. If you knew Chester, you would know that he was in a good place, in such a good place.”

Additionally, Talinda reflects on how her life changed after the Linkin Park frontman passed.

“It went from living one life to living another in a split second,” Talinda says. “And to leave who I was before the phone call behind and step forward with a strength and confidence I didn’t even know I had—I did that because of my children. I had to do it for them.”

After a period of grieving, Talinda then decided to become an advocate and a voice for the Linkin Park fanbase.

“I’m not going to stay stuck in despair and I’m gonna move through the grief,” Talinda says. “And the way I began to do that was connecting with fans on Twitter. They were reaching out, saying how sad they were and how they didn’t think that they could go on because Chester couldn’t. And I knew that’s the last thing Chester would have wanted.”

Talinda then goes on to say that she began retweeting messages and asked for other Linkin Park fans to step forward and “lift each other up.”

After the chain reaction of support “caught on like wildfire,” Talinda could see a positive thing coming out of the dark times.

However, despite her impactful footprint on the community, Talida admits it’s still hard to listen to Linkin Park or Chester’s voice.

“I’ll jump from the back seat and change the station, I’ll jump out of the car if I have to,” Talinda says. “That’s just a visceral reaction I still have to this day … it’s just too painful.”

You can listen to the full podcast with Talinda Bennington here.

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:

• The National Suicide Prevention Hotline is 1-800-273-8255. You can also reach out to Crisis Text Line by texting GO to 741741.
• 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