"As human beings, we form all kinds of different types relationships with those around us, and it is the same with famous people. We might admire them, their skill, what they brought to the world. We miss that role of being a mentor in our lives and miss how they touched our lives. Humans have a very special quality – to connect with each other and each other’s lives, experiences and stories, and that is why we grieve people we have never met."
"Famous people are also often part of our daily lives – we may have seen them very frequently online, or TV, or on their socials, or in football matches or films. That contact may have helped us feel safe and given us a sense of routine and certainty. It made us feel like we knew them. When they are no longer there, we can feel very confused and lost. That connection we formed with them is gone and that can be hard. It can be even harder if their personalities, what they did or what they loved reflected parts of ourselves."
"We may love playing football, or their song lyric may have touched our lives at a time we needed to hear it, their history and their struggles in life may resonate with ours. We see a part of ourselves in them. That can make their death hard for us to cope with. We grieve for the world and society sometimes when someone famous dies, as we can see that they brought a lot to the world."
What should I do when someone dies?
"All of us, at some point in our lives, will have people around us die. We all have our own experiences of losing people we love from our past, and when someone famous dies, those feelings can be triggered again and echoes of all those emotions and the person who died can come flooding back."
"Death can also feel scary – it is hard to understand and can make us feel worried or uncertain about what can happen in life. It can be a real shock when we lose someone unexpectedly and make us feel anxious. Understanding all of these reasons for our emotions can help us cope and get the support we need. So how can we cope?"