It’s been several days of feeling paralysed with fear and engaging in compulsions by reading so many NDEs. I don’t even know how people live their lives knowing they’re going to die one day. I’m gonna miss my family so much!!! I mean I’m not gonna know because I’ll be dead! I can’t even look at them without feeling sick. What’s the point of life if we all die? GOD!!! I literally can’t do anything! I’m so overwhelmed!
I feel the same exact thing too:(( ive been struggling with it for so long now, you’re not alone and we will both finally learn to accept this feeling, i know that 🤞🤞
I have health anxiety and my anxiety is all related to death as well. I know how hard it is to try and ignore thinking about death. I can say that one thing that has helped me is distract your mind. I find when im worrying about things like death I got do a puzzle or chrochet. I know your thoughts won't dissappear like magic but it something I found to help because your brain can really only focus on one thing at a time. I think therepy also Is defiantly the right place to be to help.
ChatGPT said: I'm really sorry you're feeling this way. What you're describing is something many people struggle with at different points in their lives—especially those with OCD or existential anxiety. You're not alone in this, even though it feels utterly consuming right now. Here’s what I want you to know: 1. This is fear talking—not truth. Right now, your brain is locked in a fear loop, demanding certainty about something no one can be certain about. That doesn't make you broken—it means you're human, and scared. It's okay to be scared. But these compulsions (like reading countless NDEs) are actually feeding the fear instead of helping it go away. 2. You don’t have to solve death to live. Yes, it’s overwhelming to think about the fact that life ends. But the goal isn’t to feel nothing about death. It’s to learn how to carry that truth with you—gently, in the background—so it doesn’t steal your present. You’re not supposed to feel peaceful 100% of the time. You’re learning how to move forward anyway. 3. You’re feeling this way because you care. You love your family so much. Of course the idea of being without them is devastating. That’s not something you need to fix. It’s a reflection of your capacity for connection and meaning. But the very thing you're afraid of losing is also right here, right now. The only way to keep those connections is to re-engage with life in the present. A few small steps you can try right now: Gently pause the NDE reading. Not because you're bad for doing it—but because it's hurting you, not helping you. It's a compulsion masquerading as research. Ground yourself. Notice 3 things you can see. 2 things you can touch. 1 thing you can hear. Come back to this moment—this one isn't about death. It's about being alive. Try a mantra like: “I am scared, but I am still here.” “I don’t have to understand death to choose life.” “My brain is asking for certainty I can’t give it—and that’s okay.”
Of course we can’t stop the inevitable but with my ocd it’s all I can think about. I’m afraid I’ll be alone for ever and I’ll fear forever. Fear does not stop death it stops life. But how do I stop fear??? I can’t think of anything scarier than the fact that our conscious will vanish for eternity. I am only 20 years old but I mean the last 5 years flew by like nothing.
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.
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