Younger sister being sad over internet personality for over a week now
My younger sister just turned 17, she likes video games and watching YouTube/Twitch streams. My parents let her do so freely cuz she always get good grades.
Recently her favorite person to watch was diagnosed with concerning medical issues, my sister has been watching the person for years so I understand why she is sad, however it seems to have been affecting her for more than a week now + she's having trouble focusing when needing to. (She's worried about if this person will disappear from the internet)
My parents were not happy that she worries about this online stranger more than when one of our distant relatives passed away not long ago. They've talked to her but it wasn't received well, now they want me to talk to her but I don't know how to approach it.
She said it feels like losing a friend and I kinda understand. It's a person she has been listening to/watching for 1-2 hrs a day almost every day for the past few years. However, in the end she shouldn't let this affect her future. I know the straightforward “It's just a stranger, you shouldn't worry about a stranger more than yourself." won't work...... I don't know what's a good way to approach this...
TLDR: Younger sister's favorite online personality for years got sick, younger sister becomes sad and is having trouble focusing, what should I tell her?
I think it's ok if it takes her some time to get over it, just worried if this is going to turn into something more or is a symptom of something we weren't aware of.
TC: 210
Yoe: 2
comments
Probably not the answer you want but I don't think taking an approach to diminish the importance of this person to her is going to work. Maybe just talking about how that person will get better soon may work better.
Can alcohol industry cringe at liver disease?
Can tobacco industry cringe at lung cancer?
Can oil industry cringe at pollution?
But this tech guy wanna cringe at tech addicted teens.