Current:Home > FinanceSafeX Pro Exchange|People are talking to their dead loved ones – and they can't stop laughing. It's a refreshing trend. -Achieve Wealth Network
SafeX Pro Exchange|People are talking to their dead loved ones – and they can't stop laughing. It's a refreshing trend.
Surpassing View
Date:2025-04-07 11:21:22
Everyone grieves differently – and SafeX Pro Exchangeif you've spent any time on TikTok in recent days, you might have noticed some unexpected, unusual methods.
Some people – to the tune of millions of likes – are confessing or sharing stories with their dead loved ones directly on social media. In one such video, two sisters laugh through telling their mom what's happened since she died. "We didn't know that we had to file your taxes," one says, stifling a laugh before later breaking into fits of laughter. Another video features two pals keeping their deceased best friend up-to-date on the latest gossip – including Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce.
What these videos have in common: smiles instead of frowns. Joy instead of heartbreaking pain. The spilling of secrets instead of spilling of tears.
Grief experts welcome this type of public healing, for both the bereaved and those watching who may learn something in the process. "What I love about it so much is that it normalizes grief, No. 1, but it also shows that grief is so much more than just crying and sadness and laying in your bed and not being able to get up," says Gina Moffa, licensed clinical social worker and author of "Moving On Doesn't Mean Letting Go." "It shows that the relationship continues. It shows how a relationship continues, it shows that it doesn't all have to be sadness and upset and despair."
TikTok as grief resource? 'Fantastic'
Grief is not one-size-fits-all.
It's "a lifelong process," says Jessica MacNair, licensed professional counselor. "It's not prescriptive, it's not, five stages in order, you move through these, and then you reach the end. It's ongoing, it comes up in varying times. And, in fact, I mean, that's probably one of the main reasons that people come back to therapy."
Any avenue people can discover to work through their grief – that doesn't involve harming others or themselves – is a good idea. Even on social media.
"If somebody finds something that is effective for them, and it helps them feel better, I love that for them," MacNair adds. "And if people can come on TikTok and see something that worked for somebody else and try that for themselves, that's fantastic."
'Wanted to share my experience'
Of course, people also grieve (slightly) more traditionally on TikTok. Devon Faith Hages, for example, shared a more melancholy video earlier this year where she said she sends messages to her dead best friend's cell phone. She sends him a text or Snapchat a few times a year after he visits her in dreams.
"Every time I dream of him, it's very vivid. It's very raw. It's very painful," says the 24-year-old foster care worker. "And they're unlike other dreams that I've had before because he and I actually maintain conversations. And I can feel him touching me and we hug in our dreams."
Her grief emboldens her to reach out: "When I first wake up from these dreams, the grief derails me for my entire day, because they're so real. So pretty much immediately after I wake up, and I'm just sitting in this grief and this pain, I text him."
Why turn to social media to tell her story? She saw others on TikTok posting about their loved ones who died, "texting them or leaving them a voicemail or getting like a random phone call from a phone number of a dead person, of someone that they loved. So I hopped on that and wanted to share my experience."
More on grief:My dog died two months ago. Pet loss causes deep grief that our society ignores.
'Just because we laugh doesn't mean we don't miss someone'
No matter how people are grieving on TikTok, one thing is clear, according to Moffa: "People die but relationships don't."
She hopes this TikTok trend continues because each generation must learn to not run away in fear of loss; we can approach grief in our own ways, including through humor.
"Just because we laugh doesn't mean we don't miss someone," she says. "Because we laugh doesn't mean that we're not grieving still."
Keep in mind that grief will manifest in different ways than you imagine over time – often unpredictably so.
"Grief will come when it comes," Moffa says. "And that may mean that you have grief, two years later, that comes up that feels like it's the first time that you're grieving, or some memory will come up. And it will be something that you have to grieve all over again."
Maybe it will involve laughter. Maybe tears. Either way, it keeps a loved one's memory alive.
And maybe that's all that matters, anyway.
If you'd like to share your thoughts on grief with USA TODAY for possible use in a future story, please take this survey here.
Other avenues:Her son died, and she felt alone. In her grief, she found YouTube.
veryGood! (48)
Related
- Senate begins final push to expand Social Security benefits for millions of people
- Thousands rally in Slovakia to condemn the new government’s plan to close top prosecutors’ office
- 'Taxi' reunion: Tony Danza talks past romance with co-star Marilu Henner
- Son of jailed Hong Kong media mogul Jimmy Lai lobbies UK foreign secretary for his release
- A South Texas lawmaker’s 15
- Myanmar’s economy is deteriorating as its civil conflict intensifies, World Bank report says
- At least $2.1 billion in new funds pledged at COP28, as foundations focus on health and agriculture
- Florida dentist gets life in prison in death of his ex-brother-in-law, a prominent professor
- Can Bill Belichick turn North Carolina into a winner? At 72, he's chasing one last high
- Music trends that took us by surprise in 2023
Ranking
- Backstage at New York's Jingle Ball with Jimmy Fallon, 'Queer Eye' and Meghan Trainor
- Amanda Bynes returns to the spotlight: New podcast comes post-conservatorship, retirement
- The 'ultimate killing machine': Skull of massive prehistoric sea predator discovered in UK
- How 'Bout a Round of Applause for Rihanna’s Pearl-Embellished Look
- Brianna LaPaglia Reveals The Meaning Behind Her "Chickenfry" Nickname
- Biden takes a tougher stance on Israel’s ‘indiscriminate bombing’ of Gaza’
- Rare gold coins, worth $2,000, left as donations in Salvation Army red kettles nationwide
- Zac Efron shouts out 'High School Musical,' honors Matthew Perry at Walk of Fame ceremony
Recommendation
Grammy nominee Teddy Swims on love, growth and embracing change
Sia got liposuction. Who cares? Actually, a lot of people. Here's why.
After UPenn president's resignation, Wesleyan University president says leaders should speak out against hate
Chinese leaders consider next steps for economy as debt and deflation cloud outlook for coming year
Juan Soto praise of Mets' future a tough sight for Yankees, but World Series goal remains
Patrick Mahomes apologizes for outburst at NFL officials, explicit comments to Bills' Josh Allen
Benched Texas high school basketball player arrested for assaulting coach, authorities say
Police and customs seize live animals, horns and ivory in global wildlife trafficking operation