Health
Mourning Liam Payne: Celebrity deaths can cause very real grief, experts say
The tragic loss of pop singer Liam Payne has caused a wave of grief among his fanbase.
Payne, 31, one of five members of the British boy band One Direction, died on Wednesday after falling from his hotel balcony in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
His death was a shock for fans, who shared countless messages of sorrow and heartbreak on social media and gathered at tributes around the world.
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As the loss of a celebrity can bring a range of emotions, experts confirm that the feelings of mourning and grief are very real, even if there is no personal relationship.
Fans pay tribute to British singer Liam Payne in front of the hotel where he died in Buenos Aires on Oct. 17, 2024. (LUIS ROBAYO/AFP via Getty Images)
Heather Hagen, a licensed mental health clinician and executive director of outpatient services at Newport Healthcare in Los Angeles, told Fox News Digital that celebrities can have a major impact on fans’ lives through their work, “which can create a sense of connection.”
“So, the emotions you are feeling are valid,” she confirmed.
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“With media, it can sometimes feel like we really know a celebrity, and the thought of them no longer being there is difficult to deal with, even though we may never have actually met them.”
With an artist like Payne in particular, Hagen said the nostalgia some fans have after growing up listening to One Direction’s music may intensify the impact of his death.
Harry Styles, Louis Tomlinson, Niall Horan, Liam Payne and Zayn Malik of One Direction attend the launch of their debut single ‘What Makes You Beautiful’ at HMV, Oxford Street on Sept. 11, 2011, in London, England. (Fred Duval/FilmMagic)
“These fans might reflect on memories tied to the celebrity’s music and the joy those moments brought to them growing up,” she said.
People in younger generations – namely Gen Z and younger millennials – could be more impacted by Payne’s death, the expert suggested, since he was “still a young man and active in his career.”
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“This may be the first celebrity death they are encountering, which might create more emotion than for someone of an older demographic,” Hagen said.
People processing the loss of a celebrity should allow themselves to experience the full range of feelings associated with grief, including anger, sadness and nostalgia, she advised.
Hagen also recommends practicing self-care and focusing on tasks that promote happiness, like spending time with loved ones or enjoying a favorite hobby.
“Listening to Liam and One Direction’s music may be cathartic at this time,” she said.
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It’s common for celebrity deaths to trigger feelings associated with past tragedies, Hagen noted.
“The feelings we experience may be attached to previous pain that we still carry with us,” she said.
One Direction members (left to right) Liam Payne, Louis Tomlinson, Harry Styles, Zayn Malik and Niall Horan attend a press conference for X Factor at The Connaught Hotel in central London on Dec. 9, 2010. (Yui Mok/PA Images via Getty Images)
“Seek professional support if your feelings become too intense or interfere with daily life,” the expert advised. “They can help you process your grief in a healthy way.”
Sharing your feelings with friends and fellow fans can also be a helpful coping mechanism, according to Hagen.
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“Sharing your favorite memories of them can help create a sense of connection,” she said. “Discussing your thoughts can provide comfort and help you feel less alone in your grief.”
Los Angeles-based grief specialist David Kessler reiterated that talking about the tragedy is an important step in processing the sudden loss of a celebrity — or the loss of anyone who is loved or admired.
One Direction’s Liam Payne arrives for an autograph signing session on Dec. 6, 2010. (Anna Gowthorpe/PA Images via Getty Images)
Talking about the loss is not only helpful for those who are grieving, but it also honors the person who died, Kessler noted in a previous interview with Fox News Digital.
“Public grief is real grief,” he said.
“Public figures are part of our lives — they remind us of who we are and, sometimes, who we want to be.”
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A new report by the American Heart Association (AHA) included some troubling predictions for the future of women’s health.
The forecast, published in the journal Circulation on Wednesday, projected increases in various comorbidities in American females by 2050.
More than 59% of women were predicted to have high blood pressure, up from less than 49% currently.
The review also projected that more than 25% of women will have diabetes, compared to about 15% today, and more than 61% will have obesity, compared to 44% currently.
As a result of these risk factors, the prevalence of cardiovascular disease and stroke is expected to rise to 14.4% from 10.7%.
The prevalence of cardiovascular disease and stroke in women is expected to rise to 14.4% from 10.7% by 2050. (iStock)
Not all trends were negative, as unhealthy cholesterol prevalence is expected to drop to about 22% from more than 42% today, the report stated.
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Dr. Elizabeth Klodas, a cardiologist and founder of Step One Foods in Minnesota, commented on these “jarring findings.”
“The fact that on our current trajectory, cardiometabolic disease is projected to explode in women within one generation should be a huge wake-up call,” she told Fox News Digital.
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“Hypertension, diabetes, obesity — these are all major risk factors for heart disease, and we are already seeing what those risks are driving. Heart disease is the No. 1 killer of women, eclipsing all other causes of death, including breast cancer.”
Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death for women in the U.S. and around the world. (iStock)
Klodas warned that heart disease starts early, progresses “stealthily,” and can present “out of the blue in devastating ways.”
The AHA published another study on Thursday revealing one million hospitalizations, showing that heart attack deaths are climbing among adults below the age of 55.
The more alarming finding, according to Klodas, is that young women were found more likely to die after their first heart attack than men of the same age.
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“This is all especially tragic since heart disease is almost entirely preventable,” she said. “The earlier you start, the better.”
Children can show early evidence of plaque deposition in their arteries, which can be reversed through lifestyle changes if “undertaken early enough and aggressively enough,” according to the expert.
Moving more is one part of protecting a healthy heart, according to experts. (iStock)
Klodas suggested that rising heart conditions are associated with traditional risk factors, like smoking, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, obesity and a sedentary lifestyle.
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Doctors are also seeing higher rates of preeclampsia, or high blood pressure during pregnancy, as well as gestational diabetes. Klodas noted that these are sex-specific risk factors that don’t typically contribute to complications until after menopause.
The best way to protect a healthy heart is to “do the basics,” Klodas recommended, including the following lifestyle habits.
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Klodas especially emphasized making improvements to diet, as the food people eat affects “every single risk factor that the AHA’s report highlights.”
“High blood pressure, high blood sugar, high cholesterol, excess weight – these are all conditions that are driven in part or in whole by food,” she said. “We eat multiple times every single day, which means what we eat has profound cumulative effects over time.”
“Even a small improvement in dietary intake, when maintained, can have a massive positive impact on health,” a doctor said. (iStock)
“Even a small improvement in dietary intake, when maintained, can have a massive positive impact on health.”
The doctor also recommends changing out a few snacks per day for healthier choices, which has been proven to “yield medication-level cholesterol reductions” in a month.
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“Keep up that small change and, over the course of a year, you could also lose 20 pounds and reduce your sodium intake enough to avoid blood pressure-lowering medications,” Klodas added.
“Women should not view the AHA report as inevitable. We have power over our health destinies. We just need to use it.”
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Nearsightedness (myopia) is skyrocketing globally, with nearly half of the world’s population expected to be myopic by 2050, according to the World Health Organization.
Heavy use of smartphones and other devices is associated with an 80% higher risk of myopia when combined with excessive computer use, but a new study suggests that dim indoor lighting could also be a factor.
For years, scientists have been puzzled by the different ways myopia is triggered. In lab settings, it can be induced by blurring vision or using different lenses. Conversely, it can be slowed by something as simple as spending time outdoors, research suggests.
Nearsightedness occurs when the eyeball grows too long from front to back, according to the American Optometric Association (AOA). This physical elongation causes light to focus in front of the retina rather than directly on it, making distant objects appear blurry.
The study suggests that myopia isn’t caused by the digital devices themselves, but by the low-light environments where they are typically used. (iStock)
Researchers at the State University of New York (SUNY) College of Optometry identified a potential specific trigger for this growth. When someone looks at a phone or a book up close, the pupil naturally constricts.
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“In bright outdoor light, the pupil constricts to protect the eye while still allowing ample light to reach the retina,” Urusha Maharjan, a SUNY Optometry doctoral student who conducted the study, said in a press release.
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“When people focus on close objects indoors, such as phones, tablets or books, the pupil can also constrict — not because of brightness, but to sharpen the image,” she went on. “In dim lighting, this combination may significantly reduce retinal illumination.”
High-intensity natural light prevents myopia because it provides enough retinal stimulation to override the “stop growing” signal, even when pupils are constricted. (iStock)
The hypothesis suggests that when the retina is deprived of light during extended close-up work, it sends a signal for the eye to grow.
In a dim environment, the narrowed pupil allows so little light through that the retinal activity isn’t strong enough to signal the eye to stop growing, the researchers found.
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In contrast, being outdoors provides light levels much brighter than indoors. This ensures that even when the pupil narrows to focus on a nearby object, the retina still receives a strong signal, maintaining healthy eye development.
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The team noted some limitations of the study, including the small subject group and the inability to directly measure internal lens changes, as the bright backgrounds used to mimic the outdoors made pupils too small for standard equipment.
Researchers believe that increasing indoor brightness during close-up work could be a simple, testable way to slow the global nearsightedness epidemic. (iStock)
“This is not a final answer,” Jose-Manuel Alonso, MD, PhD, SUNY distinguished professor and senior author of the study, said in the release.
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“But the study offers a testable hypothesis that reframes how visual habits, lighting and eye focusing interact.”
The study was published in the journal Cell Reports.
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