Grief does not just change how we feel- it can fundamentally alter who we believe we are. When someone close to you dies, especially a partner, parent , chil d, or lifelong friend, it is not only the relationship you lose, but also the roles you held in connection to them. A spouse becomes a widow, a daughter becomes an only child, a caregiver suddenly has no one to care for. These identity shifts can feel disorienting as if the ground beneath us has shifted and we are left searching for a new version of ourselves in the aftermath.

What makes this identity loss so profound is that it often goes unspoken. We expect grief to come with tears and sadness, but not with a crisis about yourself. Yet, many people find that after loss, they no longer recognize themselves or the life they imagined. The process of grieving, then, becomes not just about mourning the person who is gone, but about reconstructing an identity in a world that looks and feels entirely different than what you are used to.

Is It Normal to Grieve the Death of a Celebrity?

At some point in time, the chance is that the death of a celebrity has saddened you. Maybe you mourned Princess Diana in the 1990s or, perhaps more recently, you are grieving the loss of actor Matthew Perry. While on the grief journey, you may be asking yourself, “Is it normal to grieve the life of a person I never met?”. This sadness goes beyond this person’s ability to touch people’s hearts through acting, singing, or so on. The grief is very real and personal in many ways.

Mourning the death of a celebrity you looked up to is just as important as grieving the loss of a beloved family member or friend. Grief is grief. There is no special definition or one-size-fits-all approach to it. If you think that ignoring your feelings of grief will help the process, it does not. In fact, it can prolong your grief journey. Just because you may not have ever actually met the celebrity who passed, it does not mean that your sense of loss is invalid or that they have not touched your heart in one way or another.

Although people may try to minimize your grief, please know that it is real and deserves the adequate amount of mental health support, whether this manifests as practicing a little more self-care or meeting with a grief therapist near you. It is important to acknowledge your loss and find ways to showcase and support your grief journey.