I have what is probably an irrational fear of dying. Several members of my family seem to have this too, so it is probably a learned trait. It often goes hand in hand with anxiety attacks, but whether it is the cause or a symptom I don’t know.
I’m not looking for a personal psychoanalysis, I just want to know what others think of a fear of death.
Is fear of death something that almost everyone experiences, whether they are persons of faith or not, or is it irrational as there is nothing one can do to prevent it if your moment has truly come.
I didn’t know whether to put it here or in GD, but as I’m hoping for a poll of sorts here is probably best.
Eh, I don’t know if I’d say I have a fear of dying per se’.
Sometimes when I stay up for an extended amount of time; like say for more than 24 hours or so; (my job keeps me up for this long sometimes) when I finally do lay down to sleep; I’ll all the sudden get this “jolt” of anxiety because it feels like I’m slowly fading away to death.
That sounds exactly like the phenomenon that I experience. Mine too seems to be linked to tiredness and stress. In fact the reason I started the thread was that I drank a bit too much yesterday and was feeling a bit worse for wear today, which seemed to bring on these feelings.
I’m not afraid of death, I’m afraid of pain. I’m afraid I may die in pain. I am terrified of dying in a car accident or in any way where fear, terror and pain will be what precedes my death. I do believe in an afterlife so maybe that’s why I don’t fear death itself but the thought of dying in pain is something that I refuse to even think about anymore. I want to die either in my sleep or instantaneously so I don’t even see it coming.
I’m sad that this consiousness won’t be around to see some of the incredible things that may happen in the future and I worry that I will have to cope with the death of a SO or husband in that (hopefully) far future but my own death is not scary. Unless it involves pain of any sort.
This is all rational to me. I have thought about this and I have discussed it with friends and to me this makes sense. I don’t fear what comes next. I fear what may come before it.
I’m terrified of dying. Absolutely mortified. Not existing anymore is kind of a big thing. Huge. Just thinking about it freaks me out and brings tears to my eyes.
I think fearing death, in the sense that you fear getting mugged when you walk through a very dangerous part of town, is irrational; however, I think anxiety about death is both rational and a fundamental part of modern existence.
Hmmm. I don’t believe in an afterlife, and that’s why I don’t fear death itself . . . Other than that, you and I are spot-on. Like Woody Allen said, “I’m not afraid of dying—I just don’t want to be there when it happens.”
Maybe I’m weird, cause I don’t fear death one bit. Why would I? Everyone dies, nothing you can do about it, so why worry about it? Rarely are you ever in a situation where you can easily prevent your own death, so it’s best to just not think about it. Even when I do think about it, it’s not fearful, it’s more of a “I wonder what really does hapopen…what the Hell is not-existing like?”
Same as what Eve said. Not afraid of dying… just the pain usually associated with dying. Skip the pain part, and it’ll be fine. While I’d -like- there to be an afterlife, I’m not convinced of same, so my lack of fear of death isn’t attributable to some notion of something later.
“I’m not afraid of dying. Anytime will do. Why should I be afraid of dying? There’s no reason for it.”
Nah, not afraid of dying. I’m more afraid of coming thisclose to dying, and living the rest of my life in agonizing pain, or as a burden to those who love me. And as **Eve ** said, the fact that I don’t believe in an afterlife makes dying that much less scary for me - I will never know it happened.
In general, I don’t have a fear of death. When I’m driving, working on a lawnmower, or grilling a steak I’m not really worried about whether death is looming above me or not. That said, I take reasonable steps to avoid danger when possible. I wear a seatbelt, I don’t stick my hands under the mower while it’s on, and I periodically make sure the gas grill isn’t leaking.
If a fear of death keeps you from doing stupid things, like playing Russian roulette, then I think it’s healthy. If it keeps you from actually living an enjoyable life then I’d say it’s an unhealthy fear.
One thing not mentioned yet is that you can be afraid of death for other people. Death need not take you to make your life miserable.
Fear of death is normal up until the point it effects your daily life. If you can’t get out of bed or the house to go to work then you may need some help.
I don’t fear death, of course I’m not looking to entice it either. It happens to all of us and all we can do is make the most of the time we have here - until the cold boney hand of Grim Reaper touches you.
Count me in as another more afraid of dying painfully than the actual dying.
Death is nothing frightening to me. I don’t know what comes after you die, if anything. If there is something, yipee! Death is a wonderful thing. If there is nothing… what would I care?
And, since a poster above says they think people who are not afraid of death are lying, I can assure you, I am definitely not lying. I honestly feel life is too damn long as it is, and I for one will welcome death with open arms when it comes. Show me something more, or show me nothing at all, but get me the hell out of here.
I’m not afraid of dying. But that doesn’t mean I’m in a rush to do so.
But it would suck to be burned to death. That’s the one thing I would really be afraid of. Any other form of painful death (like cancer or car accident) is not as scary to me as burning alive.
Death scares me shitless. It’s the idea of not existing anymore while the rest of the world keeps going, like RunSilent said. I don’t know if I believe in an afterlife or reincarnation or anything, but I really hope there’s something. (Unless it’s the fundie concept of Heaven and Hell, because I know where I’d end up, unless having been baptized makes up for the liberalism.)
I don’t believe in an afterlife, and (consequently?) have absolutely no fear of death. The way I see it, how bad could death (non-existence) be, compared with some of the really horrible things many people have to overcome in life?
I’ve lost many friends to AIDS and my father to Alzheimers. I’ve promised myself that if I’m ever in a totally hopeless, painful situation I’ll take my own life before I become totally helpless and a burden to others. Because of this decision, I’m not afraid at all of dying or death.
About 4 or 5 years ago, I realized that, compared to those I know or know of, I’ve lived a life, and came to realize that, if I suddenly were to realize that it’s lights out in about 60 seconds, I’d probably be OK with it.
That’s not to say that I’m not looking forward to enjoying several more decades, and I’d certainly make whatever effort was available in those remaining 60 seconds to preserve my life if possible.
But, I’m OK with passing away, whenever it comes. And I’m not expecting any afterlife. Just lights out, show’s over, bzzzz…
I think it is pretty rationale to have a fear of the unknown. As most of us, with the exception of people who claim to be reincarnated or who have gone temporarily “into the light”, have no idea what death is like, a bit of fear is not unreasonable.
I have had episodic bouts of fear of dying. The last time was a couple of years ago and was associated with some horrific, psychotic side effects from an anti-depressant I was prescribed.
I think most people fear death because they either fear the process of dying, or they fear oblivion, no longer existing and therefore becoming irrelevant. And of course if you believe that you will no longer exist after death then that means that you will fear losing everything you have ever known, loved, and owned, including yourself. Most of the time I believe in God but have at times been a doubter, and at these times the fear of oblivion and the fear of total loss is what has bothered me about dying.
Don’t worry ErinPuff, liberalism isn’t a sin and you won’t go to hell for it, no matter what the zealots say.