How to deal with grief over the death of a famous person - YOU Magazine Fashion Beauty Celebrity Health Life Relationships Horoscopes Food Interiors Travel Sign in Welcome!Log into your account Forgot your password? Password recovery Recover your password Search Sign in Welcome! Log into your account Forgot your password? Get help Password recovery Recover your password A password will be e-mailed to you. YOU Magazine Fashion Beauty Celebrity Health Life Relationships Horoscopes Food Interiors Travel Home Life How to deal with grief over the death of a famous person By Sophie Hines - September 8, 2022 We all understand that losing someone close to you can be completely devastating, but if you find yourself feeling utterly bereft at the death of someone you’ve never even met – such as a famous person – it can be hard to know what to do with those feelings. Getty While it can seem strange to mourn at the death of someone you didn’t know in person, this sense of grief is actually a very common phenomenon according to Dr Nilu Ahmed, a psychologist at the University of Bristol. ‘Even though we didn’t know them personally, they may still have been part of our life, and their death stirs up memories’ says Dr Ahmed. It could be an actor or singer whose work we link to a key time in our life, for example. ‘We are taken back and mourn for the time we will never get back again’ she explains. It can feel particularly unsettling if the person who dies is a similar age to us, or is a figure who has loomed large in our lives for as long as we can remember. ‘It’s a reminder of our own mortality’ says Dr Ahmed. ‘As people who were part of our time begin to die, it is a reminder that we will also not be here forever and that can lead to mourning, especially if we are feeling unfulfilled in our life.’ So, is there anything you can do to help deal with this type of grief? As well as giving yourself permission to be sad and emotional, it can be also good to share your feelings. Calling a good friend or arranging to see your family is a good step – you may well find others share your sadness too. ‘It might also be worth exploring whether the feelings are about anything more’ suggests Dr Ahmed. ‘For example, are you actually grieving the death of a loved one, is it those feelings that have been stirred up? Or is it masking other emotions that may be too difficult to express, such as feeling stressed at work and unable to share this with anyone? Occasionally our emotions can get displaced on to something else.’ The main thing to remember is that your feelings are completely normal – you don’t need to feel silly or embarrassed for getting upset about the death of someone you didn’t know personally. ‘All emotions are valid’ affirms Dr Ahmed. READ MORE: How a new generation is changing the way we deal with loss RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR Everything we know about The Crown season 5 Aldi s exercise equipment is on sale with up to 50% off The best Halloween events for 2022 across the UK Popular in Life The You magazine team reveal their New Year s resolutions December 31, 2021 Susannah Taylor The TLC tools your body will love January 23, 2022 How to stop living in fear February 6, 2022 Susannah Taylor My pick of the fittest leggings February 27, 2022 Women’ s Prize for Fiction 2022 winner announced June 17, 2022 These BBC dramas are returning for a second series June 30, 2022 Susannah Taylor gives the lowdown on nature s little helper – CBD April 17, 2022 The baby names that are banned across the world April 27, 2022 The Queen has released her own emojis May 26, 2022 Sally Brompton horoscopes 27th June-3rd July 2022 June 26, 2022 Popular CategoriesFood2704Life2496Fashion2240Beauty1738Celebrity1261Interiors684 Sign up for YOUMail Thanks for subscribing Please check your email to confirm (If you don't see the email, check the spam box) Fashion Beauty Celebrity Life Food Privacy & Cookies T&C Copyright 2022 - YOU Magazine. All Rights Reserved