I can't seem to stop thinking of my own death. (anxiety, thoughts)

[tonylu]

First of all, I fear death. I fear it like the plague. I imagined I'd be over it when I'm older and everything and I still imagine I'd come to terms with it sometime in the future but my feelings and the dread of my own mortality keeps coming up. I try to meditate every once in a while but the thought that I'm going to stop breathing and that I'm no longer going to be conscious or anything like that keeps popping into my head. That state basically fills me with dread (excuse the rhyme).

My 29th birthday was this March. The thought of turning 30 kind of scares me because it's like a point of no return in my life. I'm never going to get any of the years that have already passed back and when I think of my age I imagine myself growing into an old man. Then I imagine me on my death bed. It scares me.

I have a basic idea about what many different religions say. Judeo-Christian belief systems say good people go to heaven after they die. Buddhism and other Eastern religions say people will be reincarnated all that other stuff. I'm not worried too much about what happens after I die. I'm afraid of the thing in between. The experience of death itself and the time between me being sick or too old to move and the time I stop breathing.

I've tried to live my life as best as I can and not think of dying but sometimes, when I'm alone, those thoughts about my own mortality and what will happen at that point come about.

Is there any advice that you could give or is this one of those "I'm overreacting" types of things?

[Back to NE]

Now that I'm 50, when I think of my elderly years ahead or death, I'm almost comforted by the thought that I wouldn't want to live too much longer with this frame anyway. I mean, there is always something sore: fingers, back, knees, shoulders, neck, lungs, teeth, etal.

Maybe you need to spend a couple of your cat lives (metaphysically) and feel worn and your obsession will fade away.

[Josseppie]

Honestly I don't think you have to worry about death. Personally I use to be scared but at this point knowing what I know about technology I am not.

This is why:

With this kind of work going on now, Kurzweil says that by 2024 we'll be adding a year to our life expectancy with every year that passes. "The sense of time will be running in and not running out," he added. "Within 15 years, we will reverse this loss of remaining life expectancy. We will be adding more time than is going by."

Here is a link to a article that goes into more detail on this subject:

Nanotech could make humans immortal by 2040, futurist says - Computerworld

So the key is make it 5-15 years more and you should be ok!

[Rubi3]

Learn how to hynotize yourself and convince yourself you are uninterested in the subject. I'm not joking. It's easy to learn how. It teaches not to use the word not, so, a great phrase is "I reject the suggestion to think about death. When you put yourself under, you can make suggestions which will work.

[nezlie]

Keep thinking about it. Don't suppress it. Eventually you will stop thinking about it. It's normal, after all death is our greatest fear. When we suppress things they are relegated to the unconscious mind, and then we dream about them.

[silibran]

I had probs with this in my fifties. I just had to grapple with the fact that I had lived over half my life already. I hated that thought! I suspect that middle age brings that realization--that death is nearer than ever.

I think that we all have to come to terms with mortality, because it comes to all of us. And the irony of it all is that many people who live to a great old age, really are tired of living. Some of us die too soon and some of us die to early.

The only advice I have for you is to live more in the moment. Yes, you need to plan ahead and keep an eye out for future developments. But try to add some pure enjoyment into your life every day. This can be small things. But give yourself some bit of joy whenever you can. And if you are in a great place, make sure to be mindful.

And I also want to recommend doing a good deed several times a week. This will do wonders for your all round happiness. At least as you do something positive for someone else, you won't be brooding about your future death.

I want to wish you well. You have a lot of life left to live.

[Sally_Sparrow]

I am the same way. I never can follow my own advice so I won't give any, but I think you've gotten some good responses here on this thread.

I think about it way too much. Mostly in terms of my kids. I always think about my kids and how they'd suffer (emotionally) if I died "young", younger than the norm I mean... breaks my heart, and I just can't stop with the obsession. I should mention I have generalized anxiety disorder so that doesn't help.

[Three Wolves In Snow]

Originally Posted by nezlie

Keep thinking about it. Don't suppress it. Eventually you will stop thinking about it. It's normal, after all death is our greatest fear. When we suppress things they are relegated to the unconscious mind, and then we dream about them.

Have to disagree with this. In a way, I'm like the OP. I started thinking about my death when I was around 8 years old, (between church being confusing and the threat of nuclear war, I was pretty scared and would lie awake at night at that age thinking about it), and haven't stopped since.

In May of 2011, I witnessed an horrific car accident, (saw and heard the entire thing), that left one girl dead. She was only 26...the accident was just so stupid....a stupid, stupid accident. One second she's alive, getting ready to have some fun, (it was in front of where I used to work), the next second, she's slammed in to by an SUV.

The thought of dying kicked in to overdrive then and hasn't stopped since.

[guest4]

no one is guaranteed tomorrow which is why i don't plan for the future. i live and smile every day. how to stop worrying about death? make believe it will happen when you are not around (sleeping, or some other instant accident). life may cease (no afterlife) or maybe not but who cares? all you have guaranteed is right now. use it and enjoy it. thinking about it is wasteful. live what you have left. every single meal, outing, or a hobby you enjoy.

[Mack Knife]

Originally Posted by tonylu

First of all, I fear death. I fear it like the plague. I imagined I'd be over it when I'm older and everything and I still imagine I'd come to terms with it sometime in the future but my feelings and the dread of my own mortality keeps coming up. I try to meditate every once in a while but the thought that I'm going to stop breathing and that I'm no longer going to be conscious or anything like that keeps popping into my head. That state basically fills me with dread (excuse the rhyme).

My 29th birthday was this March. The thought of turning 30 kind of scares me because it's like a point of no return in my life. I'm never going to get any of the years that have already passed back and when I think of my age I imagine myself growing into an old man. Then I imagine me on my death bed. It scares me.

I have a basic idea about what many different religions say. Judeo-Christian belief systems say good people go to heaven after they die. Buddhism and other Eastern religions say people will be reincarnated all that other stuff. I'm not worried too much about what happens after I die. I'm afraid of the thing in between. The experience of death itself and the time between me being sick or too old to move and the time I stop breathing.

I've tried to live my life as best as I can and not think of dying but sometimes, when I'm alone, those thoughts about my own mortality and what will happen at that point come about.

Is there any advice that you could give or is this one of those "I'm overreacting" types of things?

The last thing you need to worry about is thinking about your own death.

Be more worried about who else might be thinking about your death.