[MeXoXO]

Hi, last year a friend of a friend took her life. Before she did this I kept seeing her profile popping up on Facebook and wasn’t sure whether to add her as a friend and then I heard about her death. I felt sad for like a day and then I didn’t pay much attention to it.

A few months later I met someone that looked like them and I started feeling a strong sense of sorrow then this feeling went away. It was the anniversary of her death this month and that sense of sorrow came back and I’ve become quite hyper-vigilante and angry I guess.

On top of that I also feel like I'm over exaggerating and that I'm making it about myself ? I didn't know her so I shouldn't feel this upset.

Any tips on how to deal with this.

[CANDC]

Originally Posted by MeXoXO

Hi, last year a friend of a friend took her life. Before she did this I kept seeing her profile popping up on Facebook and wasn’t sure whether to add her as a friend and then I heard about her death. I felt sad for like a day and then I didn’t pay much attention to it.

A few months later I met someone that looked like them and I started feeling a strong sense of sorrow then this feeling went away. It was the anniversary of her death this month and that sense of sorrow came back and I’ve become quite hyper-vigilante and angry I guess.

On top of that I also feel like I'm over exaggerating and that I'm making it about myself ? I didn't know her so I shouldn't feel this upset.

Any tips on how to deal with this.

Hi MeXoXO. I am sorry for the loss you feel. I see people suffering and I get choked up about that. It is not strange to me that you feel the loss of this person.

It also seems from what you say that you feel guilty or responsible. When I lost my dad I had this wave of "What could I have done differently to prevent his dying?" After a lifetime of him living the life he wanted to, there was nothing I could do.

What they needed was probably a lot more than a facebook friend could offer. They sound like they had a serious challenge. It is sad when anyone takes their life, but it must be an act of desperation in a situation where they cannot feel hope of getting through things. I wish I could play this song for those who have lost hope

I find that some youtube videos help me deal with my emotions. Here are a couple:

@CANDC

[possum220]

Grief can be a strange emotion. Like some type of chameleon. You may think that it is related to one person but it is actually related to another person or other situation. Dont look too hard. The answer will show up eventually.

[Breaking Dawn]

Hi, @MeXoXO, I don't know if this is useful or helpful, but is it possible it's mostly about you being a sensitive person? I feel the way you describe when I hear sad stories about strangers in the news, & celebrities I've never met, & characters in a novel who aren't even real. I end up grieving as if I knew them. I guess that's kind of weird, but I can't help the way I'm wired, maybe genetically. Do these examples feel familiar to you?

[MeXoXO]

Originally Posted by Breaking Dawn

Hi, @MeXoXO, I don't know if this is useful or helpful, but is it possible it's mostly about you being a sensitive person? I feel the way you describe when I hear sad stories about strangers in the news, & celebrities I've never met, & characters in a novel who aren't even real. I end up grieving as if I knew them. I guess that's kind of weird, but I can't help the way I'm wired, maybe genetically. Do these examples feel familiar to you?

Yeah that sounds really familiar

[buddha1too]

Originally Posted by Breaking Dawn

Hi, @MeXoXO, I don't know if this is useful or helpful, but is it possible it's mostly about you being a sensitive person? I feel the way you describe when I hear sad stories about strangers in the news, & celebrities I've never met, & characters in a novel who aren't even real. I end up grieving as if I knew them. I guess that's kind of weird, but I can't help the way I'm wired, maybe genetically. Do these examples feel familiar to you?

Boy, does this ever sound familiar! On the news they quite often have stories about the lives of exceptional human beings who have been lost to the pandemic. More often than not, I find myself getting teary-eyed. I'm right there with you, MeXoXo & Breaking Dawn. Since I'm a guy, my tendency to be weepy sometimes embarrasses me.