I have anxiety about dying

Hi. It’s Jenny at AnxietyBoss.com. Our next question is from Helen in Evansville, Indiana. I have anxiety about dying. I am healthy and everything is okay, but I think about it and I keep thinking about death.

This is an issue to talk to someone about, either a therapist or a spiritual advisor, a trusted friend or family member, or best of all, all of the above. Death is inevitable for us all. People who reside in peaceful and stable parts of the world may never witness death up close and personal except under sanitized conditions such as a funeral.

Modern society has minimized exposure to death. People used to die at home in their own bed in the company of their families. You hunted and killed animals, gutted them, skinned them, butchered them, cooked them, and ate them or you slaughtered animals on a farm for meat. Now we are removed from this natural process. People die in hospitals and we buy meat at a market. Death is kept distant and easier to deny, at least most of the time, until some event in our lives makes it real or something we hear or read lodges in our head and makes us acutely aware. You may want to read On Killing by David Grossman for further information on modern distancing from death.

It could be something as seemingly benign as signing a life insurance policy or it can be something traumatizing. People who have undergone traumatizing experiences may develop the belief they will not live out their normal lifespan. If that is the case, it is especially important to seek out professional assistance. This is a belief which can cause you to make very different decisions and choices about the course of your life such as not planning for the future because you don’t think you will have one. And by having such constant recurring anxiety about death, you are ironically missing out on life. Savor and enjoy every moment and define what it means to you to live life fully. Examine your beliefs and talk this over with a therapist or spiritual advisor.

The great mystery, what happens after death? Is it the end or the beginning? Is there an afterlife? The majority of people in the world believe in a creator or Supreme Being and an afterlife. The hope of something more may be of great comfort and relief to your anxiety.