Comedian and actor Ricky Gervais, who stars in Netflix’s “After Life,” has a message for those who are grieving: “You are not alone.”
Gervais, who plays a man despondent after losing his wife to breast cancer, says the feedback he has gotten from fans makes him realize how many people are quietly grieving, a state of being many in the SurvivorNet community know well.
Read MoreSurvivorNet community members, from survivors to those who have lost loved ones, have shared with us that grieving is an important part of their own journeys.
One survivor, Steve Silverstein, told SurvivorNet that he was able to cope with the emotional burden of his stage IV melanoma diagnosis through a combination of diet and exercise changes, acupuncture, meditation, relaxation, and consistent visits to a psychologist, who helped him find the right prescription medication to address his mental health.
Other survivors have told us that they were able to cope with the psychological trauma of cancer through support communities, deliberate mindfulness, and activities that bring them peace of mind and joy from blogging to dancing to painting to air guitar.
Celebrities have also posted their own experiences with grief.
"I loved you today. I think, how you learn to grieve is a most important aspect of any healing," Selma Blair wrote in the post next to a photo of herself, hair shorn due to chemo, wearing a T-shirt that reads "I Loved You Today." "Thank you for this well loved T shirt @pourlair_scents #pourlairscents #ilovedyoutoday," she wrote. Blair revealed she had been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in October 2018, after suffering for years with unexplained symptoms like falling, dropping things, and foggy memory.
‘After Life’
In “After Life,” the second season of which launches in April, Gervais’ character, Tony, had a wife, Lisa (played by Karry Godliman), who figures prominently on screen. “Her part’s really important,” Gervais explained in an interview with the U.K.’s New Musical Express, “because you know he’s lost everything and you know he used to be fun.” The simple pleasures that once filled Tony’s life have been replaced by a darkly comic hopelessness.
Grief changes the lens through which Tony views his life. “It doesn’t matter what’s happening in the real world, how good life is,” Gervais says. “If you’re not happy in there (he points to his head) it doesn’t matter — you’re not happy.”
‘In the Bleakest Moments There Is Light’
SurvivorNet previously spoke with actor Patrick Dempsey about his mother, Amanda Dempsey, who died of ovarian cancer.
“I’m not sure you ever fully recover,” he says.
Patrick Dempsey
“In the bleakest moments there is light,” says Dempsey, who founded The Dempsey Center, which serves cancer patients and caregivers. “It’s there and she taught us that.”
Learn more about SurvivorNet's rigorous medical review process.
