Lea Michele has described grief as "a very scary thing".
The 27-year-old Glee actress was hit by tragedy when her boyfriend Cory Monteith died from a narcotics overdose in a Vancouver hotel room last July.
According to People magazine, Michele poured her heart out with guests about how she coped with the loss during a small listening party for her new album Louder.
"I just literally keeled over," she is quoted as saying at the Los Angeles event on Tuesday.
"Grief is a very scary thing, and there comes a point where it can really take you down."
But the star moved on to state she has no regrets about her relationship with Monteith.
They were together for around two years, having come public in 2011, and Michele says she relishes every moment of their romance.
"I'm so grateful to get to say that I experienced true love and I think that a lot of people unfortunately don't," she explained.
"They'll go a whole lifetime without this experience. I did and I consider myself so lucky. It takes me back to the best time of my life, so whenever I need to remember that, I play that song."
But fortunately Michele says writing songs for her new LP has "really been the greatest medicine" for grief.
She also reveals the loss of Monteith made her realise how fragile life is.
"If I've learned anything from this past year it's that you have one life," she said.
"I didn't really understand what that meant until recently. You have to live your life to the fullest and you have to love as hard as you can love."
Michele's first studio album Louder will be released on February 28.
