# When you suddenly realise: Your going to die......

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-suddenly-realise-your-going-to-die/133965>\
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\
**Created:** [October 26, 2002, 10:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-suddenly-realise-your-going-to-die/133965 "2002-10-26T10:03:07Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![plain\_jane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@plain\_jane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/plain_jane)\
**Post date:** [October 27, 2002, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-suddenly-realise-your-going-to-die/133965/21 "2002-10-27T05:24:15Z")

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I also think about that stuff. I got into a car accident a few years back, which made me realize just how quickly and how simply my life could end. After the accident I began to hate being in cars, especially on the highways (high speeds.) It has grown into a real problem --I absolutely hate travelling now.

Anyway so that also started me thinking about more than just how quickly I could die, but also, how fragile health really is. I could end up with cancer, or with a life-long disability that makes every day restricted and painful…

And then I think about how the majority of our time on earth is spent doing useless things or things we’d rather not be doing. (Like flipping burgers for minimum wage.) What a waste.

It’s all actually depressing!

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**Author:** ![SpoilerVirgin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@SpoilerVirgin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpoilerVirgin)\
**Post date:** [October 27, 2002, 7:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-suddenly-realise-your-going-to-die/133965/22 "2002-10-27T07:11:57Z")

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**Montezuma** – as should be clear from the other posts in this thread, most people experience a period of acute mortality awareness at some point in their lives. A lot of people go through such a phase around ages 7-10 – there are even a bunch of literary references to this particular crisis.

I went through a really strong mortality crisis at age 9. I can still vividly remember what it felt like to lie in bed at night knowing that I was going to die. I’ve always expected that I would experience a similar crisis later in my life, but so far it hasn’t happened.

As long as you are not experiencing symptoms of depression, I wouldn’t worry about it. Knowing that you’re going to die someday is a part of life. The acute awareness will pass.

I don’t use sigs, but the one that I would use if I did is apropos: “The tragedy of the human condition is that we’re aware of our own mortality; the comedy of the human condition is that we’re aware of our own nakedness.”

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**Author:** ![Montezuma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3be4f8/32.png) [@Montezuma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Montezuma)\
**Post date:** [October 27, 2002, 12:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-you-suddenly-realise-your-going-to-die/133965/23 "2002-10-27T12:05:11Z")

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It happened when I was a teenager as well, then paused, and this sorta helped me reconcile with my fathers side of the family,  
notably my nana. But I still don’t speak to my father.

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