I didn’t know Chester Bennington but I know the lingering effects of childhood sexual abuse.
I didn’t know Chester but I’ve felt some of the same pain that he felt.
I didn’t know him but I’ve known the desperation that drives so many of us to self-medicate with drugs or alcohol.
I’ve known the loneliness and isolation that comes with our need to keep the secret…A need imposed upon us by a dysfunctional society.
I’ve known the anger.
The helplessness.
The shame and guilt
And I’ve known the feeling that no one hears you, that no one sees your pain.
Chester Bennington, the singer of Linkin Park, in June. Credit Kiko Huesca/European Pressphoto Agency, Retrieved 7/22/17 from https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/20/arts/music/chester-bennington-linkin-park-dead.html
But…
I also know the joy that comes with healing
And I know that Chester felt some of that joy, because he talked about it in interviews. I only wish he could have felt more of it.
My deepest wish is for all of my brothers and sisters to experience that joy.
Childhood sexual abuse doesn’t only affect a specific group of people. It affects everyone. With roughly 1 out of 5 children being sexually abused before the age of 18, chances are you interact with survivors every single day…and you may not even know it. You see us at work, at your kid’s school, at the restaurants and the shopping malls…everywhere.
Please get involved in ending the scourge of sexual abuse. Learn about trauma. Take time to be kind to each other. If you can’t get involved in a hands-on way, donate to groups that can. Thescriptconference.com is a great place to start. There are lots of different ways you can help. In the coming weeks and months, I’ll be writing about many of them at speakingtruthformen.com.