This Brings It Home

Since I have been writing this blog, I have come across many other such blogs who focus more on mental health issues than I do. While I read many of them and take on board a lot of what these blogs say on the issue, I have to admit that I really didn't get it until recently. The trigger being the death of a heavy metal queen, Jill Janus, lead singer of the band Huntress, who suffered from mental health issues such as bi-polar and took her own life a few days ago.

[caption id="attachment_1265" align="aligncenter" width="324"] Jill Janus of Huntress[/caption]

When I saw Jill, along with Huntress, three and a half years ago, I was blown away by her vocal ability and her passion. She owned the stage for the forty-five minutes she was on it. Those memories contradict the fact that her mental illness was so overwhelming for her that she took her own life but that's the point, isn't it? No one can really know what's going on inside another person's head. Robin Williams was an all too familiar excellent example of this. People with mental illnesses can struggle with it for many years and people are none the wiser about it. Everyday, some sufferer comes to the conclusion that things are so bad, they can see no other alternative than to end it all. Unfortunately, it is only when it happens to celebrities or some one close to us that it actually hits home.

In Jill's case I fear another issue might surface as a result of Jill's suicide. Some people might actually try to say that the music she sang and loved so much was what drove her to kill herself. I have to agree with Jello Biafra who said It makes no sense that the very music that made a particular person happy drove them to commit suicide.  It makes even less sense because I saw the exact opposite when I saw her perform. If anything, the music she sang probably did more to delay the inevitable for her rather than cause it. Still, there will be some misguided people out there who will insist that heavy metal was the cause. It makes no sense.

In the future, I will pay more attention to those who suffer from mental health issues because one never knows when that breaking point will come. For now, no matter what you think of heavy metal music, I think it's only fitting that I upload a Huntress song in honour of Jill Janus.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GMpo97mOvuI

To buy He Was Weird, go to: https://www.amazon.co.uk/He-Was-Weird-Michael-Lefevre/dp/1909740942/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1534966223&sr=1-1&keywords=he+was+weird