[smeej]

I thought this for the longest time, and then when I actually went through the kind of thing people offer "thoughts and prayers" for and people offered them to me personally (as opposed to generically on the internet), it actually made a world of difference to know my struggle had even entered the mind of another human being.

So if you can tell someone personally that you're thinking about them, especially in the days/weeks/months/years after the fact, I recommend it.