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8 DAYS

what they never taught you in schoolwhat they never taught you in school

It’s all

mind

Stefanie Sun — who performs

at a concert this week to raise

awareness about mental health

issues — and an expert weigh in

on what you should know if you

suspect your loved ones are facing

mental health issues, ahead of

World Mental Health Day on Oct 10.

The last video of Chester Bennington, recorded in

July just 36 hours before he took his own life,

shows the late Linkin Park

frontman (right and in

main pic) having fun

sampling mysterious-

flavoured jelly beans

with his kids, wincing

when he gets a foul

flavour, causing everyone

to erupt in laughter. Just

a regular night in with the

fam, except that we know

it wasn’t as it seemed.

Bennington’s wife Talinda

had posted the clip on Twitter “so that you know that

depression doesn’t have a face or mood”. All this begs

the question: How much do we know about mental

health? And what do we do if we suspect our loved ones

are suffering from mental illness?

Look out for tell-tale signs.

According to Dr Christopher Chan, associate

consultant at the Institute of Mental Health:

“Some early warning signs to look out for are

unusual changes in personality or behaviour. They may

have trouble sleeping, experience changes in diet, feel

lethargic or a lack of motivation, experience a loss of

interest in activities,

even those he or she

used to enjoy, have

poor concentration,

withdraw

from society, indulge

in alcohol or drug use, carry out self-

harm or self-injury, or experience

self-loathing.”

It’s a social

thing.

Take it from

Stefanie Sun,

who

headlines

a concert

this Sat (Oct

7) to raise

awareness of