- User type
- OCD Conqueror
- Date posted
- 3y ago
Death anxiety is really rough, because it feels inescapable. We think the only way our fear can be ‘settled’, is if we experience death. That’s not the case. Mahatma Ghandi said, ‘each night when I go to sleep, I die. And the next morning when I wake up I am reborn’. Sounds a little deep, but it’s really simple. you’re not as disconnected from death as you’d imagine. I understand that your fear surrounds the idea of heaven, being dead but conscious and being away from loved ones, I was the same! Think of it this way, you were dead billions, and billions of years before you were born, and you didn’t suffer at all during that time. Death is hard, but your love for your family and your connections with them are more than death. As sappy as it sounds, you’ll always be in each others hearts regardless of what comes between that. All of your fears are based on this idea of consciousness after death, which is scientifically impossible - but I understand what you’re saying. When you go to sleep, and you’re unconscious, it’s irrelevant to you whether you’re in a box or a field - as long as you’re in that state. Think of death as sleep if that helps. This was long, but I’ve been where you are. Sending my best wishes🤍
^^ we actually don’t know, scientifically, if there’s other realms or if consciousness continues after physical death, etc. There’s SO MUCH we don’t know. We know like 0.1% of everything possibly knowable. There’s string theory, Near Death Experiances (NDEs) studied by Dr. Sam Parnia, and even Stephen Hawking “suggesting ‘God’ could exist”.. There’s studies of mediums and of quantum mechanics. We know nothing 🤍✨
No, I agree!! When I say consciousness I mean consciousness in a physical sense - like electrical activity in the brain. I love contemplating about life after death, and I personally believe in reincarnation lol. I agree we know nothing, I’m not disputing that, but this person has a fear of how claustrophobic it would be to be in a coffin, and she’s referring to the possibility of being conscious in the way that we understand it, as humans who are alive. I’m not debating the idea that our consciousness transcends into something else!
Mine is Cancer and death. I feel if i could overcome fear of death then if i ever get cancer( that was hard to write btw) then i wouldn't freak out.
*****TW****** Yesssss I have a total fear that there’s no afterlife!!! My biggest core fear, EASILY!! I’ve rationalized that my other fears are okay as long as there’s an afterlife at the end of this... more to go on. But maybe there isn’t!! My family runs a graveyard (ironic) and my current exposure is to listen to nihilist quotes while walking through and imagining all the decaying bodies.. 2 times a day at least. And I listen to the quotes more. Sending soooo much love and good luck 🤍🤍✨✨✨
If you ever want to do an exposure together you can find me on IG at emidrew_xo 🤗
BTW you basically described me.
Have you done erp? Any good exposures ?
@artsygirl I am doing ERP now with my NOCD therapist. Just started, only exposure I've done so far is write a script about getting a terminal cancer diagnosis and reading the word over and over.
Really bad theme right now is death, I keep thinking about how one day or at any moment my heart will stop my brain will stop & my memories & everything I know will all fade away. It is giving me so much anxiety I’m only 18, but I realize it all happens to us it is bound, we are born to die. I know it’s a silly thing to be scared because it’s not helping the quality of my life worrying about it and even when I do die, I won’t care , if you don’t have a working brain then how can you care 🤷♀️. It is tainting my everyday life currently & honestly making me terribly depressed & it is giving me derealization & making me feel nihilistic, I’ll remind myself it’s okay but then with my ocd i don’t stop thinking and thinking about it and it’s seriously so hard to stay present in the moment because this thought just feels like I can’t scrub it away it’s miserable I struggle with religion, but I do pray to anything that’s out there possibly listening, because it is comforting, it just feels like this whole experience Is pointless & I am afraid of the unknown and what is to possibly happen but I’m subjected to it anyways so why should it matter
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.
I used to get caught in a loop with existential thoughts very frequently. Every question made my stomach drop: (TW: existential questions) … … ... "Why does anything exist at all? What will death be like? Is anything even real? Is there any meaning to this? Is the universe infinitely big, and if not, what's beyond it? Are there multiverses? Has the universe been around forever? Will the universe end for good, or will it keep going forever? What is forever like? What even IS reality?" It would get so overwhelming that I remember lying on the floor in a fetal position for hours because I felt like there was no escape. I spent most of my days reading articles and watching videos about theoretical astrophysics and philosophy in a desperate attempt to "figure it all out." Of course that only made me more anxious, raised more questions, and kept me trapped in the cycle. Things started to improve once I learned to turn TOWARD reality, rather than away from it, and ERP really helped me do that. I learned that these questions weren't the problem. I learned that I can actually handle the anxiety that arises when exposed to these ideas and concepts. I don't have to figure anything out to make the anxiety go away; it arises and passes away on its own. Ironically, bringing myself into the present moment and becoming more aware of reality helped me escape the cycle of existential dread. Because of that, this topic no longer takes over my life. If I'm triggered by something I see, hear, or think, I may still feel a little twang of anxiety, but then it just goes away. "Maybe, maybe not" has been the single most useful phrase of my life. Do you ever get trapped in a cycle of existential questions? Are you worried that the ERP approach would be too scary to handle? If so, I'm happy to give my advice.
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