Most often, thanatophobia occurs after losing a loved one because loss reminds us of our own mortality. But fear of death can also occur without an apparent reason. In Western culture in particular, conversations about death are perceived as taboo, and the more we avoid talking about this difficult topic, the more unsettling it becomes. Some say that young people fear death more than seniors, but that actually depends on cultural and religious factors, and the degree of emotional support received.
However, if death anxiety persists for more than six months, and it turns into thanatophobia, you may want to seek professional help. You can recognise death anxiety by the following symptoms:. When it becomes intense and interferes with daily life, death anxiety becomes a phobia, so you may experience symptoms that are specific to phobias, such as sweating, trembling, chest tightness, rapid heartbeat, or hot flushes.
When death anxiety becomes a part of your life, you may feel trapped and overwhelmed. Thanatophobia can prevent you from living in the present, from seeking new experience, and from seeing the beautiful things you have today. Compared to Eastern culture, Western culture has a more taboo perception of death, which means that many people struggle with death anxiety for a long time before mustering the courage to talk about it.
Living with thanatophobia can be emotionally exhausting, so if you have been worrying a lot about death lately, you can take steps to get better. Therapy for death anxiety will help you:. Therapy for thanatophobia may also include treatments for a more complex mental health disorder, such as OCD, PTSD, or anxiety, so the exact treatment approach will vary depending on what causes the issue.
It means acknowledging the concept of mortality, but without letting it take over your life. Please note that we use cookies necessary for the functioning of our website and cookies that optimize the performance of our website. To learn more about our cookie, please read our Privacy Policy. Overcoming fear of death By Arteo. Is it normal to be afraid of death? A doctor or therapist can help you learn ways to cope with these feelings and how to redirect your feelings. Asking for help and learning how to handle these feelings and fears in a healthy way can help you manage your condition and prevent the potential of feeling overwhelmed.
Death anxiety is real, and it can control how you live your life. But it doesn't have to. For some people, intense grief after the death of a loved one can lead to depression or make underlying depression worse. Here's a look at approaches…. Behavioral therapy is an umbrella term for therapies that treat mental health disorders.
It identifies and helps change self-destructive or unhealthy…. There's no right or wrong way to meditate. Discover the technique that's right for you. Claustrophobia is a situational phobia triggered by an irrational and intense fear of tight or crowded spaces. Read on to learn more. A phobia is an excessive and irrational fear reaction.
If you have a phobia, you will experience a deep sense of dread, and sometimes panic. Does worrying put a damper on your day? Try these techniques to free yourself. Health Conditions Discover Plan Connect. The fear of death is so common that it has spurred multiple research projects and intrigued everyone from scholars to religious leaders. There is even a field of study called thanatology which examines the human reaction to death and dying. Some interesting findings have emerged from studying the fear of death.
It's worth noting that this survey includes other responses that involve death which is more specific. For example, murder by a stranger Women have generally shown a greater tendency to fear death versus men. This is possibly due to the fact that women are more likely to admit to and discuss such fears. The fact that, historically, men are more likely to believe in dying for a cause or purpose may also contribute to this.
Some researchers will argue that young people fear death more than the elderly. However, one study conducted among dying people in Taiwan showed that the fear of death actually did not decrease with increased age. Additionally, the same study showed that a patient's fear of death decreased after they were admitted to hospice care. It's possible that this was a result of the education and holistic emotional and spiritual support patients receive from members of the hospice team.
It is possible to break down our general fear of death into several specific types of fears. Many people fear that when they meet death, they will experience excruciating pain and suffering. This fear is common in many healthy people, as well as in patients dying of cancer or other terminal illnesses.
Unfortunately, many people do not realize that palliative care can help alleviate pain and other distressing symptoms. Death remains the ultimate unknown because no one in human history has survived it to tell us what really happens after we take our last breath. It is human nature to want to understand and make sense of the world around us. The reality is that death can never be fully understood by anyone who is living.
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List of Partners vendors. Thanatophobia is an intense fear of death or dying. It's a relatively complicated phobia. Many, if not most, people are afraid of dying—some fear being dead while others are afraid of the actual act. However, if the fear is so prevalent as to affect your daily life, then you might have a full-blown phobia. A phobia is a type of anxiety disorder. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders DSM-5 categorizes phobias into three groups: specific phobias, social phobias, and agoraphobia.
Thanatophobia is a specific phobia. While thanatophobia is not specifically listed in the DSM-5, there are symptoms of a phobia that could be applied in examining whether someone has a typical fear of death or something more. Namely, it may be a phobia if they:. More specifically, an anxiety disorder could produce the following physical symptoms:. For more mental health resources, see our National Helpline Database.
As there are so many possible causes and complications, it is important that thanatophobia is diagnosed only by a trained mental health professional. They will try to determine if the fear is persistent, lasting more than six months, and how appropriate the fear is considering the circumstances. They can ask guided questions to help figure out exactly what is going on, and they can recognize the symptoms of related disorders and prescribe the appropriate course of treatment.
According to the National Institute of Mental Health, a number of factors could put someone at risk of developing an anxiety disorder. Namely, experiencing stressful or traumatic life events, genetics, traits of shyness as a child, and other physical health conditions.
The fear of death can also be present in other conditions and may even be linked to their severity. A study published in Clinical Psychology Review tied death anxiety to a number of different mental disorders, including hypochondriasis , panic disorder , and anxiety and depressive disorders.
In addition, a study linked death anxiety to more severe symptoms across 12 different disorders. People who deal with thanatophobia may develop related phobias as well. Fears of ghosts , tombstones, funeral homes, and other symbols of death are common, as they can serve as reminders of the main phobia. A child's fear of death can be devastating to the parent, but may actually be a healthy part of normal development.
Children generally lack the defense mechanisms , religious beliefs, and understanding of death that help adults cope. Whether the fear qualifies as a phobia depends on its severity and the length of time it has been present. A fear of death is considered a normal childhood fear in adolescents 7 to 16 years old, and is typically not considered a mental health condition.
The exact causes of phobias are not clear.
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