Chris Cornell‘s daughter Lily Cornell Silver has discussed Mind Wide Open, her new Instagram series exploring mental health.
In an interview with Rolling Stone, Silver talks about the interview series’ genesis, prompted by a period of poor mental health experienced in late April following the implementation of coronavirus-related lockdowns and the third anniversary of her father’s death.
“I was struggling since it was around the anniversary of my dad passing, and he was someone who really understood and shared and validated my mental health issues. I launched the series in his honor because I knew that he would be proud of my vulnerability,” Silver explained when asked why she started the new series.
“Helping others and pursuing my passions is something that he always instilled in me. And in terms of tackling mental health as a topic, I have struggled with anxiety and grief and PTSD my whole life. And my mental health was definitely suffering in quarantine. I truly believe that the inaccessibility and stigma surrounding mental health is a huge part of why people struggle.”
So far, episodes of Wide Open Mind have seen Silver speak to the likes of Dr. Laura Lipsky, a founder of the Trauma Stewardship Institute who has written several books about trauma. She’s also spoken to Dr. Marc Brackett, a founder of the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence, and TikTok personality Sir Carter.
The interview also sees Silver open up about discussing shared experiences with mental health with her father.
“I’ve had anxiety since I was a little kid and he was really validating and reassuring for me in that way. When I was like 12 or something, he was like, “When I was 12, I would be laying awake in bed at night and my heart would be pounding. “It felt like I was going to have a heart attack.'”
He would always say, ‘You come by [your anxiety] honestly, and it’s something that I’ve struggled with my whole life.’ And it was just that reassurance, like ‘You’re gonna be OK.'”
She goes on to add that her father would explain that “the fact that you’re worrying about what the outcome is going to be and thinking what every possible option could be and worrying about all the ways that things could go wrong, it’s because you’re very smart and because your brain works really fast.”
“And even though it sucks, and it can feel like a total burden, you’ll harness it and you’ll figure out how to use it in ways that are helpful to you and others.”
You can check out episodes of Silver’s series over on her Instagram page.
