Thanatophobia Or Fear Of Death
It is human that the idea of one day ceasing to exist can disturb us. However, some people are so terrified of this finality that it prevents them from going about their daily lives normally. When a person suffers from such a panicked fear of death, it is called thanatophobia. This is partly a natural fear, but it becomes a disorder when it reaches too high levels of discomfort.
Thanatophobia is usually quite crippling for the sufferer. Indeed, thoughts about his own death keep coming back to his mind obsessively. Despite the naturalness of death, people often find it difficult to accept it and do not always understand the reason for its existence.
Thanatophobia in everyday life
People with thanatophobia often have recurring thoughts about the end of their own life. In addition, “thanatophobes” most of the time prefer to avoid hospitals or cemeteries. They also cannot stand the sight of very violent films or coffins, or anything related to death.
Symptoms
People with thanatophobia have various symptoms, such as:
- Anxiety
- Obsessive and constant thoughts on death: not only on their own death but also on that of those close to them
- Depressed mood or depression
- Avoidance behavior regarding everything related to death
- Panic attacks, or
- Sleep problems
What is behind thanatophobia?
A trauma
First of all, many people who experience such fear of death have often experienced traumatic events. They may, for example, be victims of road accidents or even survivors of attacks.
This fear can also be rooted in the death of a family member. The person who suffers from thanatophobia has sometimes witnessed an event related to death. Whether real or fictitious. Indeed, even a movie can trigger this type of fear.
Learned fear
There are different beliefs about what happens after death. According to some cultures or religions there would be an eternal life. Still others speak of reincarnation or rebirth. Finally, according to other beliefs, there is nothing after death.
Either way, death is always disturbing. We live in a society where there is a fear of death. It is therefore normal that we also feel this fear.
In cultures that believe in rebirth, the fear of death is much less intense. People even live their lives with the goal of achieving their next reincarnation. We therefore see that according to beliefs, we can be more or less serene with respect to death. However, what is or is not after death is everyone’s belief.
Conceal death
A society that masks death is a society that does not accept it. In this context, it is therefore unlikely that individually we will develop a healthy relationship with this aspect of life that concerns us all.
Although the newspapers and the news are brimming with tragedy, we tend to hide our own deaths. Of course, hearing the news of someone’s death makes us sad, but to think that one day we are going to die can be the cause of great anxiety and uneasiness.
As the team of Gala León (2002) asserts: “with this attempt at camouflage and denial, we find ourselves stuck in a retrograde process of evolution (regression) which leads us to lower stages of maturity of the process. changing attitudes towards death. ”
Loss of identity
Another important aspect behind the fear of death is the loss of our identity. A loss which, in principle, implies the absence of any notion of a feeling “I”. We attribute death to the end of feelings. The “I” then goes out and all that we are ceases to be.
We cling to a static concept of identity, which by nature is perishable. However, when we realize that we have to let go of this body and this identity, we are overcome with a fear that can sometimes paralyze us.
Fears at the end of life
The Gala León (2002) team asserts that people at the end of life can experience a series of fears. Among them, fear:
- Of the dying process: the very fact of thinking that there is a risk of experiencing pain, whether physical or psychological, can cause a person a lot of anguish
- To lose control; When our last moments arrive and our body dies out, it is others who sometimes have to make the decisions for us.
- What will happen to our loved ones after our death: the future of our family is of great concern to us. Will they get away with it? Are they in pain? Will everything stay in order?
- Fear of others: fear is contagious. When we observe fear in others, then our feeling of fear increases.
- From the unknown: what is behind death? What do you feel before leaving?
- That life had no meaning
How to deal with thanatophobia?
The most common treatment used for thanatophobia is cognitive behavioral therapy. It focuses on the behavioral level as well as on the cognitive and physiological level.
The team of Mercedes Bordas (2011), from the University of Seville, proposes in their article a series of objectives. Among them :
- Control the symptoms of anxiety: at the physiological level, the objective is to control the symptoms that appear in connection with death. At the cognitive level, we work on thoughts related to death. Relaxation techniques such as breathing or progressive relaxation are also applied
- Reduce avoidance behaviors: this is practiced both through the imagination but also directly
- Finally, reduce the level of emotional distress associated with the experience of death and the dying process. Cognitive restructuring at this stage is essential for working on fear of death
In conclusion
Although death is a process that is part of life, it still imposes respect and fear. However, if this fear is so intense that it prevents us from going about our daily lives normally, the best thing to do is to seek professional help.
Such support will give us the right tools so that fear is no longer so crippling. Thus, we can again enjoy our occupations as we did before. In short, what is really important is not to die, but to live fully and appreciate every little moment that life offers us.
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