Deeply Afraid of Death / Afterlife

[sazo75]

As the title of the thread states, I'm EXTREMLY scared of what happens after death. The thought hit me when I was a kid I overheard my father speak to one of his friends about this topic. As I've gotten older it runs through my mind several times a day, since I notice myself and peers getting older ( only 30 right now ) the worst time is in the night time when it's dark because that seems to trigger it. Probably wouldn't be bad if I believed in a heaven or something of that sort, but that to me just seems like a fairy tale and not even remotely plausible.


The thought of there being nothing and just not even having any sort of conscious deeply frightens me, I selfishly want to always have a conscious forever. When I think about the subject deeply it scares me so bad that my gag reflexes will go off and I can easily vomit and have to suddenly distract myself to get it off my mind completely. Interestingly enough my dad has the same phobia as I do as I've talked to him several times about the subject and he said he's been the same way since he was a little kid.


Anyone else experience this or get over something similar?

 

[BigNattyDaddy420]

I’m one of those people who’s neutral about it. I love bodybuilding, I love my wife, and I’m generally optimistic for the future

At the same time, it would be nice for it all to be over. No more work. No more stress.

Sounds like I’m depressed but that’s not the case. I think of death as a natural part of life, and when it happens, it happens. I still have things left I want to do, so I would like to postpone death for awhile, but i don’t fear their being nothing.

 

[WeakFNG]

Are you a spiritual person. I know you said you don't feel heaven is plausible. But being spiritual and religious are two different things.

Regardless, fear of death/lack of afterlife is a common fear. Its important to acknowledge the fear and work on living in the present. Death is an unavoidable aspect of life and facing mortality can be anxiety provoking in many ways. Some things to think about; Are you living the life you want? Where are you in life relative to goals you have (career, family, etc.)? What, if any, experiences have shaped this fear outside of hearing your father speak about it?

I've had a lot of experience with death and processing these fears in my life (not something I feel lucky for or am proud of). My education aned experiences have led to me having a very pragmatic and what some might consider a dark outlook on life. That said, I am happy, healthy, and not worried about the end. And yes, I believe when we die, that is it.

All that said, this is something that needs to be worked through with the goal of finding the true root cause and deeper meaning. It might be worth finding a mental health counselor to speak with about this. I'm confident you would benefit from it. Best of luck.

 

[pesty4077]

Not at all. Some of us have peace in our lives and accept death as part of life. If you are getting sick over it means your soul and peace are not connected.

 

[juggy38]

As the title of the thread states, I'm EXTREMLY scared of what happens after death. The thought hit me when I was a kid I overheard my father speak to one of his friends about this topic. As I've gotten older it runs through my mind several times a day, since I notice myself and peers getting older ( only 30 right now ) the worst time is in the night time when it's dark because that seems to trigger it. Probably wouldn't be bad if I believed in a heaven or something of that sort, but that to me just seems like a fairy tale and not even remotely plausible.


The thought of there being nothing and just not even having any sort of conscious deeply frightens me, I selfishly want to always have a conscious forever. When I think about the subject deeply it scares me so bad that my gag reflexes will go off and I can easily vomit and have to suddenly distract myself to get it off my mind completely. Interestingly enough my dad has the same phobia as I do as I've talked to him several times about the subject and he said he's been the same way since he was a little kid.


Anyone else experience this or get over something similar?

This is coming from a southerner, growing up religion is a cornerstone of life for most of us….so hold your beer…..

My faith dictates and comforts me in time of peril…..leaning on that, if it is true, I have a very vague idea of what to expect.

As a medical professional and man of science, technology, common sense….the above statement seems ridiculous.

BUT….200 years ago, an iPhone would be considered witchcraft and you would have been set on fire…..I lean on humans having very little understanding of the universe, “being”, or what we think of as “reality”

I’ll leave you with this……before you were born, were you afraid? Were you lonely or in pain? No, you were nothing. I think in death, you return to that state….

It doesn’t scare me probably as much as others, death is part of the job at a hospital. Usually really sad, then happy the suffering is over. I’d imagine when it’s time to cross, desth will be better than the state leading up to it.

 

[1bigun11]

So live your life that the fear of death can never enter your heart. Trouble no one about their religion; respect others in their view, and demand that they respect yours. Love your life, perfect your life, beautify all things in your life. Seek to make your life long and its purpose in the service of your people….And when it comes your time to die, be not like those whose hearts are filled with the fear of death, so that when their time comes they weep and pray for a little more time to live. But sing your death song and die like a hero going home.

Tecumseh.

 

[sazo75]

Cheers for the replies all. Guess I just needed to vent or something, after reading the replies they've actually been pretty helpful and interesting hearing others talk about it.

One thing that bothers me I guess with it is not being able to avoid death, there's so many things in life you can avoid / fix. Fat? than eat less calories. Don't have any money? Get a job. Want to become better at playing the guitar? Practice 30 mins a day. Don't want to die? Too bad it'll happen anyways you can only delay it.

 

[Performance Based]

Death has been something on the forefront of my mind the past decade and a half - it has terrorized me and interferes with my life on a level I don’t feel entirely comfortable getting into here.

Short story 17 deployments, a terminal cancer diagnosis in 2013 and another in 2015.

In 2022 I went through something called Ibogaine therapy and I have done two psilocybin sessions in 2023. My fear of death is now completely gone and I, for the first time ever, have completely concrete spiritual beliefs.

 

[mexbeast]

Cheers for the replies all. Guess I just needed to vent or something, after reading the replies they've actually been pretty helpful and interesting hearing others talk about it.

One thing that bothers me I guess with it is not being able to avoid death, there's so many things in life you can avoid / fix. Fat? than eat less calories. Don't have any money? Get a job. Want to become better at playing the guitar? Practice 30 mins a day. Don't want to die? Too bad it'll happen anyways you can only delay it.

We can't avoid death, but there's things you can do to not fear it, if the Bible is the word of God then it only makes sense that you would find all your answers there. But first you would have to believe that God exists then you would have to be sure that the Bible is really the word of God.
Prove that the Bible says the truth is actually in what you are experiencing, since the Bible says that in the beginning we were made to live for ever, but due to sin we had to die BUT the way we were made didn't change, that's the reason we don't want to die, that is also the reason we want justice, and to be loved.
John 17:3 say's "this means everlasting life, their taking in knowledge of you the only true God and of the one you sent forth, Jesus Christ." If you were to believe that then maybe there's something you can do about it. I encourage you to read the very first book of the Bible genesis chapter one through three and let me know what you think about it! I hope this helps and hope you feel better

 

[pistonpump]

Death has been something on the forefront of my mind the past decade and a half - it has terrorized me and interferes with my life on a level I don’t feel entirely comfortable getting into here.

Short story 17 deployments, a terminal cancer diagnosis in 2013 and another in 2015.

In 2022 I went through something called Ibogaine therapy and I have done two psilocybin sessions in 2023. My fear of death is now completely gone and I, for the first time ever, have completely concrete spiritual beliefs.

What about the trips do you think changed your beliefs and fear?

I hear people say this but, being someone who has tripped countless times, what was it?

 

[pistonpump]

To the op, I have had thoughts on the subject that almost made me have an anxiety attack. And still to this day I face death and I don't want to truly accept it. But it is the one thing that is promised to us all. The thing is nobody knows what truly happens after we die and that leaves it open for a lot of interpretation. So we can also make our own perspective on death and afterlife. So many believe in afterlife just to ease the same fear you have. It's in us all but be comfortable in your belief whatever it may be. My thoughts on death continue to evolve and it is a topic on my mind because it is our reality in this world. Don't let worrying about it stop your from living. Live and love while you can.

 

[Performance Based]

What about the trips do you think changed your beliefs and fear?

I hear people say this but, being someone who has tripped countless times, what was it?

With ibogaine I had extremely intense visuals akin to the creation of the cosmos with these beyond stoic godlike creatures creating and watching over life itself.

With psilocybin it mirrored this - my visuals have always been “cosmic” in nature almost always showing the creation and destruction of galaxies, life, etc.

My wife has tried psilocybin twice now and has no visuals (3.5 and 5.0 gram dosages) just nothingness and a flood of emotions.

Guess I got lucky with how my brain accepts these compounds and what they decide to reveal to me?

 

[goback2013]

after 30 years of caring for kids, grandkids, ex-wives, baby-moms, in-grates, i am now about to embark on my 'fuck it' world tour.
this includes running copious amounts of test with reasonable amounts of trest, mast, halo. i'm only keeping doses reasonable since
i still like to play basketball, run, box.. so i need to keep my cardio in-tact.
i bought a luxury car for my daughter(an in-grate), that she wrecked and left out on the street without notifying me.
the car is salvageable and should be out of the shop in a couple weeks.
once its out, i will be driving to miami for a month or more.
then thinking of vegas, atlanta..
after i tire of US spots, i may hit up places like colombia, ghana,etc <- i have a very specific taste in women..
my point ? i'm just going to live without fear... i can work from anywhere.. have passive income with my california properties..
not going to run bloods.. just dont care... when you've over extended yourself for others for so long, and many times
you're left holding the bag, at some point you just say fuck it. as the old, but true, adage goes, no good deed goes unpunished.
if i check out due to my gear use, oh well.. i certainly wont check out from rec use, as i dont drink or do recs.. and i am not about to jump
on the stim bandwagon.
just scored a big lot of halo raws , so no need for stims...
i believe in an afterlife and dont feel i've done enough wrong by others.. my only 'vice' is women.. but i've given and helped whenever i could.. havnt stolen or cheated to
make my way in life.. so i feel my afterlife will just be a time of rest..

 

[Sdl]

As the title of the thread states, I'm EXTREMLY scared of what happens after death. The thought hit me when I was a kid I overheard my father speak to one of his friends about this topic. As I've gotten older it runs through my mind several times a day, since I notice myself and peers getting older ( only 30 right now ) the worst time is in the night time when it's dark because that seems to trigger it. Probably wouldn't be bad if I believed in a heaven or something of that sort, but that to me just seems like a fairy tale and not even remotely plausible.


The thought of there being nothing and just not even having any sort of conscious deeply frightens me, I selfishly want to always have a conscious forever. When I think about the subject deeply it scares me so bad that my gag reflexes will go off and I can easily vomit and have to suddenly distract myself to get it off my mind completely. Interestingly enough my dad has the same phobia as I do as I've talked to him several times about the subject and he said he's been the same way since he was a little kid.


Anyone else experience this or get over something similar?

There's a chapter about death in the book 'Liber Null And Psychonaut' by Peter Carrol. Good book, good chapter.
I don't think there's death really, all is life.

 

[pickapeck]

I've done a fair bit in life. At this point i have a 5 year goal and from that point I hope to stay alive long enough to support my family and leave them with enough to endure after I'm gone.

 

[Dave Perez]

After 40 years of juicing on and off it finally caught up to me...last September I had a quadruple bypass and a new mitral valve from a pig installed...the surgery took 5 hours...while under anesthesia a machine did the work of my heart and for my lungs...in a sense I was dead...I saw no lights...I did not see st Peter at the gates...I saw nothing because there is nothing after death...live it up now...I have quit caring what others think and do whatever I want...

 

[Durro]

When you loose family, friends and over the years you hear about all the people from your town that have passed and people you know and some here on the forums. You come to except you and everyone else’s turn will come and you start to enjoy every day good or bad.

As the saying goes: “Every Day on This Side of the Dirt is a Good Day!”

 

[mexbeast]

After 40 years of juicing on and off it finally caught up to me...last September I had a quadruple bypass and a new mitral valve from a pig installed...the surgery took 5 hours...while under anesthesia a machine did the work of my heart and for my lungs...in a sense I was dead...I saw no lights...I did not see st Peter at the gates...I saw nothing because there is nothing after death...live it up now...I have quit caring what others think and do whatever I want...

Just out of curiosity, what makes you think you deserved to see the heavens, or angels, and much less God? Were you righteous, good, or blameless, or meek? If not why would you be given that privilege? On top of that you didn't die like you said you were under anesthesia. I'm not against you or anybody's beliefs, just something to think about.

 

[mexbeast]

I’ll leave you with this……before you were born, were you afraid? Were you lonely or in pain? No, you were nothing. I think in death, you return to that state….

It doesn’t scare me probably as much as others, death is part of the job at a hospital. Usually really sad, then happy the suffering is over. I’d imagine when it’s time to cross, desth will be better than the state leading up to it.

This, that is what the Bible says, we are dust and when we die we return to dust,