Chogiwa – Since the death of Jonghyun, December becomes the month to remember for SHINee and Shawols. It’s been a while I’m not writing weekend features for Chogiwa. This special month and this special weekend I dedicated to them.
This year is going to be SHINee’s year. After years of hiatus when Onew, Minho, and Key should serve their mandatory military service, finally, all of them got together again this year.
However, December always becomes the month to remember for all SHINee members and Shawols. Because this month, three years ago they have lost one of the members, Jonghyun left them all for good. And since the death of Jonghyun, December always the month to remember for SHINee.
I clearly remember when I wrote two bad news in the same year and both are about the death of my favorite singers, first was the death of Chester Bennington and then SHINee Kim Jonghyun. Tragically, both of them died while fighting with their depressions.
Junghyun Had Been Suffering SAD Since Childhood
Depression is one of the diseases which is not easy to spot. That is why the term “depression has no face” is the best thing you could do to describe this condition.
Learning for the death of Jonghyun, people couldn’t clearly see that he was actually suffering the condition. However, in some interviews, he had mentioned his personal battle with depression. He even mentioned that he had a specific mental issue better-known as Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD).
SAD is a condition of depression which will get worse when the season changes.
For those who find this fact confusing, how season change could be the trigger of a certain depression? Well, to make it simple, can you imagine when you are in a situation when there is no sun for days due to heavy rain? That condition could turn anyone with the brightest personality to have a bad mood.
Can you imagine if that condition experienced by someone who already has a serious mental issue?
In the same interview, Jonghyun added that his depression could get worse during fall or winter and he had been suffering this condition since his childhood.
The Death of Jonghyun and His Story with Depression
Every story must come to an end. Unfortunately, the story of Jonghyun’s battle with depression has a sad ending. December 18th, 2017 a police report has been made regarding the founding of unconscious JongHyun in his apartment in Seoul. He then died on the way to the hospital caused a shock to everyone who heard the story. Later, police reported the death of JongHyun caused by a suicide. JongHyun even left a suicide letter written by himself.
Depression is not the kind of disease you could easily talk about especially in certain countries like South Korea, depression is considered a shameful disease. That is why people prefer to hide it instead of seeking help.
Perhaps, learning from several suicide cases is better for us now to learn a little bit more about this disease from the death of Jonghyun and his last words “I’m damaged from the inside. The depression that has been slowly eating away at me has completely swallowed me and I couldn’t win over it”.
So, don’t ever take depression for granted because though this disease looks normal from the outside but it could eat you away from the inside.
