# So what do you worry about killing you, then? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 21, 2015, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-do-you-worry-about-killing-you-then/725745 "2015-07-21T02:00:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2015, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-do-you-worry-about-killing-you-then/725745/1 "2015-07-21T02:00:27Z")
Dopers in general aren’t afraid of [ISIS](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=756759) or [spree killers](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=759911) murdering them, but what are you afraid will be your end? We are all going to die somehow. Which ways seem plausible enough to you that you’ve taken the time to worry about them? Limiting it to the top five or so worries, you can order them anyway you want or stipulate they’re all equally worrisome. Be as elaborate as you like. For me these are actually in order: [ol] [li]Fatal car crash in bad weather, likely snow[/li][li]Fire[/li][li]Fatal injury caused by an elderly or texting person (either while I’m walking or driving)[/li][li]My clumsiness will finally literally kill me[/li][li]Illness (in odds of likeliness: respiratory, cancer, or cardiac related)[/li][/ol] I’m not too worried about violence or animal attacks or natural disasters or famine or war…or very old age. And I’m definitely not worried about a zombie apocalypse 😉 You? ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2015, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-do-you-worry-about-killing-you-then/725745/2 "2015-07-21T02:05:27Z")
What about an ambulatory Egyptian mummy, all hopped up on tanna leaves? ---
**Author:** ![Helena330](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/helena330/32/531_2.png) [@Helena330](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Helena330)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2015, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-do-you-worry-about-killing-you-then/725745/3 "2015-07-21T02:09:52Z")
The cancer I had cut out last year. I try to beat down the fear, but it’s at the forefront quite often. Hopefully, it will wane. ---
**Author:** ![CatastrophicFailure](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8c91f0/32.png) [@CatastrophicFailure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CatastrophicFailure)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2015, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-do-you-worry-about-killing-you-then/725745/4 "2015-07-21T02:13:25Z")
Heart attack or stroke. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2015, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-do-you-worry-about-killing-you-then/725745/5 "2015-07-21T02:14:07Z")
1. Old age 2. Anything else that isn’t quick ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Mouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mighty_mouse/32/7776_2.png) [@Mighty\_Mouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Mouse)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2015, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-do-you-worry-about-killing-you-then/725745/6 "2015-07-21T02:25:02Z")
According to my actuary (my brother) I should worry about (1) car accident (2) heart attack and (3) stroke, in that order, given my age, lifestyle and physical condition. In a couple of years, the first two spots will be reversed. ---
**Author:** ![Master\_Wang-Ka](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/master_wang-ka/32/3325_2.png) [@Master\_Wang-Ka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Master_Wang-Ka)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2015, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-do-you-worry-about-killing-you-then/725745/7 "2015-07-21T02:31:10Z")
While I don’t wanna die, I REALLY don’t wanna deal with some sort of physical disaster that impairs me to the point where I can’t take care of myself, particularly something brain related. My grandfather had a series of strokes that left him bedridden and unable to communicate. Before that, he lost enough cognitive function that he literally couldn’t follow a train of thought long enough to finish speaking a sentence. Then he lived another eight years. THAT terrifies me. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2015, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-do-you-worry-about-killing-you-then/725745/8 "2015-07-21T02:32:02Z")
I fear disease, heart attack, stroke, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, etc. I know I should fear car crashes, but I don’t. ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2015, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-do-you-worry-about-killing-you-then/725745/9 "2015-07-21T02:34:05Z")
> [@CatastrophicFailure](#): > > Heart attack or stroke. Ditto ------ already had one of each and for a while I had a doctor who thought I was being optimistic buying green bananas. This was ages ago so while it costs me sleep now and then, its not on a regular basis. Let me modify that. I’m aware of both but I fear a crippling illness. The thought that that could happen does give me shivers. ---
**Author:** ![stillownedbysetters](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/41988e/32.png) [@stillownedbysetters](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stillownedbysetters)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2015, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-do-you-worry-about-killing-you-then/725745/10 "2015-07-21T03:11:55Z")
I worry about cancer, as there is lots of it in my family, and all of my family died young. I’m much older than either of my parents ever became, and older than 2 of my 4 grandparents. I’ll outpace another of them next year, God willing. Still it seems unlikely, genetically, that I’ll die of old age. I no longer fear car accidents. I’ve been in two fatal accidents and walked away both times - scarred, but alive. Evidently, the universe has something else planned for me. Gulp. Like others, I fear being incapacitated mentally or physically, while still intact mentally. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2015, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-do-you-worry-about-killing-you-then/725745/11 "2015-07-21T03:47:02Z")
I already had one heart attack, albeit 50 years, have atrial fib and a pacemaker, I think it highly likely that it will be heart disease. Maybe a heart attack, maybe heart failure. Second place: a stroke, third place cancer. ---
**Author:** ![Renee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/renee/32/287_2.png) [@Renee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Renee)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2015, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-do-you-worry-about-killing-you-then/725745/12 "2015-07-21T04:06:41Z")
I don’t think about death much. I’m in excellent health, although one never knows, something could sneak up on me. Probably the most likely things that would be my end in the next decade or so would be a car crash or a horseback riding accident. ---
**Author:** ![Merneith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/57b2e6/32.png) [@Merneith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merneith)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2015, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-do-you-worry-about-killing-you-then/725745/13 "2015-07-21T04:14:06Z")
Falling down the stairs. I do it with enough regularity that I know there’s that one false step out there, just waiting for me. ---
**Author:** ![GusNSpot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gusnspot/32/436_2.png) [@GusNSpot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GusNSpot)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2015, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-do-you-worry-about-killing-you-then/725745/14 "2015-07-21T05:51:41Z")
Her husband. ---
**Author:** ![Maastricht](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e57/32.png) [@Maastricht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maastricht)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2015, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-do-you-worry-about-killing-you-then/725745/15 "2015-07-21T05:56:02Z")
Stress. ---
**Author:** ![pullin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c57346/32.png) [@pullin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pullin)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2015, 10:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-do-you-worry-about-killing-you-then/725745/16 "2015-07-21T10:34:22Z")
I’ve been flying small planes for 40+ years, and an active flight instructor for 30. I’ve lost count of the pilot funerals I’ve attended over the decades. I know how statistics works, but I still find myself wondering if I’m pushing the probabilities too much. I guess I worry more about Cessnas than heart attacks. ---
**Author:** ![D\_Odds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/d_odds/32/2882_2.png) [@D\_Odds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Odds)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2015, 10:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-do-you-worry-about-killing-you-then/725745/17 "2015-07-21T10:44:32Z")
I accept my mortality and don’t worry about how I’m going to due. I worry about hot in living my life. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_the\_Immortal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6de8d8/32.png) [@Max\_the\_Immortal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_the_Immortal)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2015, 10:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-do-you-worry-about-killing-you-then/725745/18 "2015-07-21T10:46:39Z")
Not much. ---
**Author:** ![willthekittensurvive](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/91b2a8/32.png) [@willthekittensurvive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/willthekittensurvive)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2015, 11:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-do-you-worry-about-killing-you-then/725745/19 "2015-07-21T11:36:38Z")
question is if, not what… but, in order of likeliness: Cardiovascular diseases Infectious and parasitic diseases Ischemic heart disease Malignant neoplasms (cancers) Cerebrovascular disease (Stroke) Respiratory infections Lower respiratory tract infections Respiratory diseases Unintentional injuries HIV/AIDS Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease Perinatal conditions Digestive diseases Diarrhea diseases Intentional injuries (Suicide, Violence, War, etc.) Tuberculosis Malaria Lung cancer Road traffic accidents Childhood diseases Neuropsychiatric disorders Diabetes mellitus Hypertensive heart disease Suicide Stomach cancer Diseases of the genitourinary system Cirrhosis of the liver Nephritis/nephropathy Colorectal cancer Liver cancer Measles Violence Congenital abnormalities Nutritional deficiencies Breast cancer Esophageal cancer Inflammatory heart disease Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias Falls Drowning Poisoning Lymphomas, multiple myeloma Rheumatic heart disease Oral and oropharynx cancers Fires Pertussis Prostate cancer Leukemia Peptic ulcer disease Protein-energy malnutrition Endocrine/nutritional disorders Asthma Pancreatic cancer Tetanus Sexually transmitted diseases excluding HIV/AIDS Bladder cancer Meningitis War Syphilis Neoplasms other than malignant Ovarian cancer Tropical diseases excluding malaria Epilepsy Musculoskeletal diseases Hepatitis B Parkinson’s disease Alcohol use disorders Drug use disorders Upper respiratory infections Uterine cancer Skin diseases Melanoma and other skin cancers Hepatitis C Leishmaniasis Trypanosomiasis Benign prostatic hyperplasia ---
**Author:** ![scareyfaerie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scareyfaerie/32/3135_2.png) [@scareyfaerie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scareyfaerie)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2015, 11:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-do-you-worry-about-killing-you-then/725745/20 "2015-07-21T11:40:59Z")
I don’t fear death as such, it’s coming to us all so we might as well get used to the idea. I do worry about a long, lingering illness especially in a society where we seem so concerned with preserving life without necessarily any quality. I suppose I should have a living will or DNR in place but my partner and parent both know that I would not want to be kept alive by machines. If I cannot talk, move or in some way interact with people, feel free to unplug me and charge your phone instead. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-do-you-worry-about-killing-you-then/725745.md?page=2)