I've been obsessing over the fear that I'm going to die since January. First from COVID, then from my medication, then from food, and now sleeping at my dad's house due to stress somehow (and it hasn't gone away despite staying the night there). Has anyone else been obsessed with death?
We’re all going to die one day, learn to accept it and you’ll be able to let yourself move forward. I had the same thought process at one point too, you will get through this. I’m dealing with existential ocd myself right now, it’s hard but we’ll both get through these trials, stay positive 🤙🏼
@WTFLife? - Speaking as someone's child, I am sure that your son loves you dearly. You are likely cared about much more than you realize. Yes, maybe this is true, maybe it isn't, but what if you find many individuals throughout your life who love you? You seem to be very focused on a specific outcome that may or may not come to pass. Do your best to logically consider all of the possible results; many may be much more optimistic than you might have anticipated. Embrace them all and focus on the present; bridges cannot be crossed in advance, only when we arrive at them. I wish you luck on your journey my friend. <3 We are here for you if you need us.
@WTFLife? Yeah I can relate. I'm a sensitive 20 year old who has ambitions, so it'd really suck if I died. I'm not so sure I can accept death, but it's better then nothing. Learning that others have the same fears as I do also helps.
I am sorry that you are experiencing this. Death is one of those things that I think every human being has at some point worried about- that part is very normal, however OCD likes to get you to latch onto when and if and how, and what if's- it wants you to spend day and night thinking about, preparing for and trying to prevent something bad from happening- OCD demands certainty and control but it is impossible to ever give it enough. The key is that you learn to live with the uncertainty- we will all likely face death at some point and no amount of worrying or trying to figure it out will stop it- I tell members with similar fears that yes you can eat healthy and do healthy things and try and have good health- there is nothing wrong with this and at the end of the day sometimes people die in spite of all their best efforts, and sometimes people don't try at all to be healthy and live to be very old- there is a level of uncertainty- which is precisely why OCD has attached to it. Working along side a ERP specialist you can develop specific ERP exercises and learn how to respond in a way that isn't doing compulsions and actually making you more anxious.
Yes I’ve had this! It comes in waves! Usually when someone close to me passes away I start to ruminate about dying and it scares me! This theme comes and goes a lot for me
so i have ocd but this is the main theme ive been dealing with for the last few months, im obsessed with my mortality and i feel trapped by the reality of death. i dont really believe in an afterlife which makes it scarier, not that i dont wanna my brain literally just wont let me. but i have daily panic attacks thinking about death all day, its honestly the toughest thing ive ever dealt with. does anybody have any tips on how they manage this if they have ever dealt with it? not looking for reassurance, just some non compulsive ways to kind of lessen the grip of the fear.
At first, it just started as harmless questions, curiously exploring the universe and what life and death mean as a human. Then it became an obsession about death and the afterlife. I’m a Catholic-turned-agnostic who recently took an interest in religion again, trying to redevelop a relationship with God without letting the fear of not being good enough and possibly going to Hell taking over me. Instead, my brain latched onto the possibility that there is no God, that there’s eternal nothingness after the short time we have here on earth and that everything means nothing. My love for my friends and family. My desire to achieve my goals, and to be happy for the people I love achieving theirs. I’m haunted by the feeling that it will all be for nothing, that I will never be reunited with those that I love, that the people I love who have passed on have ceased to exist and one day, so will I and everyone else. I can’t function now. I’ve made myself physically ill over this. I’ve lost my appetite. As someone who once took pride in how much love I have for my job as a daycare teacher, I come into work and feel numb. I go home and feel numb. I’ve obsessively started telling the people in my life how much I love and appreciate them because for the past three days, I’ve been sick thinking about how one day, either I’ll leave them or they’ll leave me. It feels like nothing matters. It feels like everything is in vain. I’ve tried so hard to reframe my mindset, to rewire my brain to not think that way. I’ve tried ERP techniques of allowing myself to sit with the discomfort that the fear brings. To try and desensitize myself to this fear. Nothing seems to work. I’m so lost. I’ve been this way for three days, with yesterday and today being worse than the day it started. It’s like the obsession is morphing into depression in a way. I’m scared I’ll never feel enjoyment in any form again. I don’t know what to do anymore.
I’ve been perturbed for a couple of months now with incessant thoughts about aging and dying. I really am not sure what to do. This feels like other OCD themes, but also really different, because this time, what I’m afraid of is sure to happen. I will either die, or age and then die. It’s been so difficult to enjoy anything lately. I just want to pull a blanket over my head and wait until death comes. Has anyone else felt this way? I feel quite alone. I am trying to enjoy life, but I just remember that it will all be gone in a flash. Nothing really seems to help me feel better. The only escape I have is in my dreams where I can fantasize about never aging or dying. Or at least being able to rewind the clock to have more time.
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