- [Male Narrator] Elisa was someone who I'd never met.
Why do I feel like I've just lost a friend?
(soft piano music)
- [Female Narrator] Bless the internet.
People can really be themselves.
Also, this is way cheaper than paying for a therapist.
- [Male Narrator] She was writing for years,
and I was just trying to understand
who she was as a person.
- [Female Narrator] Tumblr, I am so grateful I found you.
You remind me the world is big,
and I have a place in it somewhere.
- [Male Narrator] There's just something about her honesty
that came through in her writing.
- As you read her Tumblr and you understand her,
because she bared her soul in these posts.
- [Stephanie Harlowe] She was a big Harry Potter fan.
- [Male Speaker] She was obsessed with "The Great Gatsby".
- [Stephanie Harlowe] You could tell she was
an introvert at heart, and you know, needed to be creative,
and write, or read, or reflect on things.
- I think we got cheated
of a brilliant writer in the making.
- [Female Narrator] I suppose, we roam on the internet
because we aren't able to find in our physical lives
the human connection we need for survival.
So, we search endlessly, online, alone.
- [Male Speaker] We also know
that she had her struggles with depression.
- [Female Narrator] Apparently, I'm bipolar.
Can I just inhabit someone else's brain?
I just wish someone around me could understand.
Depression sucks, period.
If someone says to you that they have depression,
don't ask why.
There is no why.
Tell them every day you love them.
Remind them every day, "It will get better."
- I think that Elisa was a bright young woman
with a bright future, doing the best that she could
to manage her chronic illness.
- [Female Narrator] I am so much more than that.
I do have amazing, beautiful things in my life.
I am so very full of... love.
- [Female Speaker] She may have thought that
if she could travel by herself,
and she could have this adventure,
that means that she was normal, that she was capable.
- [Female Narrator] I want to get away, travel.
- She was looking for happiness.
She knew the version of herself that she wanted to be.
- [Female Narrator] I will put things in perspective
and remind myself, you are strong,
you are capable, you are special.
- People are still reading her blogs
and commenting on her blog posts.
She's making an impact to this day.
- [Female Speaker] You've touched many lives Elisa,
probably even saved a lot of people too.
- [Young Female Speaker] You give me hope.
- [Older Female Speaker] Knowing you,
now I know someone understands me.
- [Male Speaker] My only regret is not finding you sooner.
- [Female Speaker] I will not forget your story, I promise.
- Elisa Lam brought us together,
and thanks to Elisa, I realized we're not alone.
We are not alone.
(soft music)