How to get rid of the fear of death and regain the joy of life? Treatment of VSD - treatment of vegetative-vascular dystonia. Features of the manifestation of fear of death

Imagine that a person is so afraid of suddenly dying for some reason that he tries to avoid crowded places, ride in a car, fly on an airplane, go to the forest, etc. A terrible fear of death poisons his entire existence, causes great despair and fear of life to such an extent that he tries to leave the house less and locks himself up. This is no longer just natural fear, but pathological condition psyche, which is called thanatophobia. What are the main causes of this phobia? How does an obsessive state manifest itself, how to get rid of the fear of death?

Why is thanatophobia dangerous?

It is believed that the fear of dying, hidden deep in the subconscious, is at the root of almost all phobias. If an obsessive, uncontrollable fear of death comes to the fore, this is a manifestation of thanatophobia. Fear of sudden death, if not treated promptly, can lead to very serious consequences. A person ceases to see the meaning of his existence, he constantly has thoughts in his head that sooner or later he will die anyway. This affects his professional and daily activities, the motivation to do anything and the ability to rejoice disappear. The fear of death can develop into a fear of life, the patient withdraws into loneliness, loses social connections and close relationships, since at every corner he sees danger, a threat to his health. This is especially true for middle-aged and elderly people. Under the influence of constant anxiety and stress, disturbances in the functioning of body systems appear, physiological symptoms, VSD syndrome, panic attacks. The predominance of negative emotions causes disruptions in the nervous system, which can lead to irreversible changes in the cerebral cortex and the formation of psychosomatic pathologies. A person who is terrified of dying may become addicted to alcohol or drugs in an attempt to drown out the fear. Seeing no point in living in anticipation of imminent death, not knowing how to deal with the fear of death, a person may attempt suicide. It is also worth noting that they can be caused by prolonged depression.

Main causes of phobia

Why do some people have a panicky fear of death? The exact reasons have not been fully established, although the main theories of the fear of death are associated with the influence of society and heredity. Many scientists name other reasons for the development of this phobia:

• Personal experience related to the death of someone close to you. Tragedy and despair caused by loss loved one, provoke an inexplicable way of disagreement with death - irrational fear. Fear of death in children, especially preschool age most often appears precisely for this reason.
• Showing and describing negative events associated with death through means mass media. Stories about accidents, murders, and disasters cause some people constant painful thoughts about their own death.
• Fear of the unknown or the desire to control everything can provoke a fear of dying. A person is afraid of what will happen after death, since no one knows for sure. He is afraid of what he has no control over, sometimes he is simply afraid of dying in his sleep.
• Thanatophobia can be a consequence of religious beliefs. The fear of sinning, of being subjected to divine judgment, of being punished for one’s unrighteous deeds causes the fear of sudden death.
• The crisis age from 35 to 50 years, when a person experiences painful experiences due to revaluation of priorities, goals, as well as despair due to unfulfilled hopes, all this can provoke the development of a phobia.
• A woman carrying a child before giving birth may be very afraid of death, especially if the pregnancy is complicated or the woman has to raise the child alone. Thanatophobia before childbirth is caused by fear for the unborn baby; the mother worries what the child will do if she is gone.

In old people, in the presence of typical diseases of older people, fears associated with the expectation of death very often intensify.

Features of the manifestation of the disease

Often thanatophobia manifests itself not as a fear of death as such, but as a fear of excruciating pain from fatal disease or fear of becoming incapacitated, living incompletely. For some people, the fear of death is associated with worry about their elderly parents, a small child, for whom the person is responsible. Especially single parents may panic for the life of their child after their death. As a rule, a person suffering from thanatophobia imagines his own end in specific circumstances, and subsequently tries to avoid these circumstances. If he is afraid of dying from a serious illness, then he will endlessly visit doctors, do all kinds of tests, tests and examinations. He develops an obsessive style of behavior. Typical symptoms of the disease:

• sleep disorder (nightmares and vegetative attacks may occur during sleep), decreased libido, loss of appetite;
• unexplained neurotic pain, attacks of VSD, panic attacks, anxiety syndrome;
• constant anxiety, aggression, nervousness, increased irritability;
• gloomy mood, anxiety, feeling of despair;
• self-doubt, suspiciousness;
• increased excitability, impressionability, sensitivity to criticism.

The risk group includes the elderly, preschool children, and women before childbirth. Why these categories? Older people often have various diseases. Therefore, the cause of phobic attacks may be associated with the fear of becoming helpless due to some illness, and such people are often afraid of dying in terrible pain due to an illness or simply dying in their sleep. For women before childbirth, all fears seem natural. Of course, every future mom worries about the baby. But there are situations when, before giving birth, a woman is so afraid of dying and leaving her baby alone that she experiences panic attacks, VSD and other very unpleasant symptoms tantophobia. Before childbirth, all these manifestations represent real danger for the child's health. Therefore, if your fears are very strong, it is better to consult a psychologist before giving birth about how to get rid of the fear of death. Why are preschool children at risk? The fact is that it is during this period that the child begins to understand what death is. In preschool children, the intellect is already sufficiently developed to realize that grandmother no longer comes to visit because she is no longer alive. The understanding that everything in nature has an end can cause fear of the death of their parents in preschool children. What to do about this, especially if your baby has panic attacks? A child psychologist or child psychotherapist will tell you how to overcome a child’s fear of death.

Main treatment options

There is no single strategy for overcoming the fear of death. For each specific patient, thanatophobia has its own causes, features of manifestation, characteristic symptoms, and form of the phobia. Therefore, to find out how to overcome the fear of death, you must consult a specialist. Only a qualified psychotherapist or psychiatrist can diagnose thanatophobia during a consultation. Situations often occur when old people, women before childbirth, and indeed any people are diagnosed with VSD, taking into account only somatic symptoms and vegetative attacks. A person can treat VSD for a long time, take unnecessary medications, but the subconscious feeling of fear remains, provoking new panic attacks, anxiety syndrome and attacks of VSD. Treatment will be successful only if the patient is treated psychological work with fear of death. If necessary, the doctor may prescribe certain medications to relieve acute VSD symptoms and treatment of anxiety syndrome. In some cases, it is enough to conduct several psychocorrection sessions if the phobia is not very strong. Treatment methods such as cognitive behavioral therapy and hypnosis have proven themselves well. If the fear of death is combined with another mental disorder, for example, depression, anxiety syndrome, it is necessary to determine which of the disorders is primary, and then prescribe appropriate treatment. If a person has a feeling of despair associated with possible influence his death affects loved ones (elderly parents, spouse, child), then group meetings with a psychologist will help get rid of the phobia. Each patient is prescribed individual treatment based on the form and intensity of the attacks of VSD and anxiety syndrome, the severity of his phobia, as well as his personal characteristics. Living with a pathological fear of death is always difficult and fraught with undesirable consequences, so timely treatment plays a big role for every person.

What will help you get rid of the fear of death?

Fear of death is a natural defense mechanism that protects a person from dangerous behavior, but too strong a panicky fear of dying provokes a fear of life. Most owners of this phobia do not know how to cope with the fear of death, overcome panic attacks, attacks of VSD, anxiety syndrome and other troubles that accompany the phobic syndrome. This poisons communication with people, causes great despair, has a negative impact on family and friends, and interferes with living a full life. Dealing with the fear of death should always begin with professional advice. For phobia treatment to be effective, psychologists advise not to distance yourself from death, as this will only worsen the symptoms of anxiety and fear. In order to get rid of obsessive-compulsive disorder need to realize and accept life cycle beginning with birth and ending with death. Understanding the inevitability of the natural course of life and the fact that everything in nature has its beginning and end will help a person live in such a way that before death he can look back on his life without regret. Experts advise living in the current moment, trying to live every day for your own pleasure, without thinking about the future. For a person who wants to get rid of the fear of death, support from family members is very important. The absence of fear of death and awareness of the value of every moment of one’s existence helps to live a fulfilling, interesting life.

A person constantly experiences anxieties of a very different nature: fear of death, loss of loved ones, phobias of various diseases, horror of death from an accident, etc. The features of any phobia are expressed in a distorted perception of the world and can be a kind of signal to change your life in better side for your own comfort.

Where does the panicky fear of death come from?

Every person has experienced the death of loved ones or strangers. Memories of this will forever remain in the memory, but unprocessed and misunderstood experiences and impressions can cause something like a phobia. Only the person himself can decide: whether to face his problems face to face and look for ways to get rid of them in order to start living happily, to please himself and his loved ones, or to follow the lead of his inner monsters and forget forever about future, your desires and aspirations.

The anxiety of death is always the main and basic instinct of the individual.

No one can answer the question: is there anything after death?

Human life ends, and it is the fear of the “other” side, the unknown, that is the fundamental reason for the fear of death.

All people are afraid to stop living, and this is understandable, because the end comes against our wishes. Some are afraid of dying due to old age, others are afraid of incurable diseases, people are afraid of the death of loved ones and the pain of loss associated with this.

The media play an important role in creating the expectation of death. People begin to think about the cessation of the existence of the individual and what will follow. They start to invent various options, which leads to mental anguish. But if a person’s phobias are so strong that they interfere with adequate perception of everyday life and interfere with life activities, then this indicates the occurrence of mental illness.

How does a person feel when experiencing a panicky fear of death?

Everyone goes through coming to terms with thoughts of the inevitable differently. Ideally, we develop an understanding of the finitude of all living things when we are still children, and in adolescence We have our own attitude towards this.

In an adult, whether he is suspicious or callous, scared or brave, pessimist or optimist, the fear of dying consists of a set of emotions, beliefs and attitudes:

• For many, the desire to be treated and train the body becomes a way to get rid of fears
  death and illness. If a person is afraid of dying from an illness, he will monitor his health and exercise;
• The desire to forget about the end. We overcome the panic of the end and the unknown by being busy and thinking about everyday problems, in the worst case - with the help of alcohol and drugs;
• The desire to constantly be close to your spouse, child, mother, etc. is actually the fear of losing loved ones.

The fight against the fear of death is a fight against instincts. No one can eradicate primal instincts. Therefore, the fight against a phobia lies in the awareness of the onset of a natural end.

Many try to unconsciously deny this, fence themselves off from encountering this in every possible way, and stop visiting cemeteries and sick and dying relatives. However, irreversible processes of cessation of life activity will still occur in everyone sooner or later. There is a life cycle, and man cannot change its end.

How to get rid of the obsessive fear of death?

Imagine that you have gained eternal life. What are you going to do? Most likely, the fear of dying will leave you the minute you realize that you will live forever. But you should ask yourself the question: is this good? Of course, first of all, you will rush to check the possibility of not dying with all sorts of in dangerous ways: extreme sports, entertainment.

But soon you will get tired of it, and euphoria will be replaced by thoughts about the future. What will I do for many thousands of years? How to survive all children and close relatives? On the one hand, immortality gives prospects, but on the other, it devalues ​​life. After all, it is valuable in its fleetingness.

First of all, you need to live the way you want. Appreciate life and understand its significance. You need to find the strength to look into the future differently and find small joys in every day if you are afraid to think about tomorrow. Don't worry about the future, it's better to start living in the present. Savor moments spent with family, spend free time on self-education and cultural enlightenment.

Also try to reflect on the following points:

• "Know Thyself". We need to try to rethink the very structure of this phenomenon. We all once did not exist before we were born. You can't say it was bad or painful. The same thing will happen after death;
• There is a lot of evidence that people who have experienced clinical death, get rid of phobias and start "breathe deeply". Most of us have experienced this before. Losing consciousness is a mini-death, but it's nothing more than unpleasant;
• Isn't it better to imitate children? Kids are sure that every person is special and everyone has higher powers that protect them. One has only to imagine that somewhere above there is a patron who guides and protects a person, one’s soul becomes lighter;
• One can consider the first cause to be absolute reason, to which everyone returns as if home;
• One of the ways you can get rid of the fear of death of loved ones is to learn to dream. For example, learn Chinese or jump with a parachute. Only all these dreams must gradually come true;
• "Good conquers evil". You need to think positively, want to change yourself for the better. Try to give yourself to your loved ones, and then all phobias will fade into the background.

You need to live a rich and interesting life, then you can get rid of panic about future losses. Do not carry the fear of the past with you, live in the present, but with firm faith in the future.

Fear in modern world diverse and many-sided. Experts have compiled a classification that includes about a hundred varieties, because each person experiences fear in their own way. Even every nation has its own specific fears. However, the wisest of people try to overcome fear and fight it, learning to live freely.

Instructions

Today there are many techniques that help with this in highest degree an unpleasant feeling. And if you understand that you are overcome by it before flying, driving a car (you never know before?), do not immediately run to a psychotherapist. You may be able to cope on your own.

You can also imagine to myself, how would it be not you, but someone else, fearless and confident, who would behave in this situation (this gives a certain freedom, experts say). Then you should relax and imagine to myself happening until it becomes clear and most real, and - distinct. Such mental rehearsals can make your behavior a little more confident, and they will help you overcome fear in practice.

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Sources:

• How to overcome the fear of fighting and defeat any opponent

Fear of people very often prevents a person from realizing himself in a profession that requires the ability to communicate. However similar phobias influence not only the professional sphere of life, but also the personal one, forcing a person to refuse to communicate with others people. To overcome this fear, you need to analyze the situations in which you experience it, understand its cause and take a step towards it.

Instructions

Take a break, think about something extraneous, for example, about plans for tomorrow, remember a couple of funny stories or anecdotes, etc.

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Fear of death- that chilling feeling of horror that we first encounter in childhood, when we see this phenomenon that separates us from the one who died forever. Inevitability of death and its suddenness are perceived by us as an obligatory payment for the joys of life. Horrible for some people of death becomes a constant companion, poisoning every day of life.

Instructions

Psychologists advise not to suppress the feeling, but, on the contrary, to carefully examine and study it. It is necessary to recognize it as an obstacle to spiritual development, dissect it and understand the nature of this feeling, what causes it.

One of the motivations for the fear of death is the fear of loneliness. We don’t like to stay there, even if the loneliness is short-lived. We subconsciously perceive it as eternal loneliness. Stop imagining death as, don’t think that after your body stops functioning, your soul will die too, and you will feel better.

The logical result of the fear of loneliness is attachment and, which you are afraid of losing in the event of. Throughout our lives, we don’t often meet those who are close to us emotionally and psychologically. Often such a search can be quite long and difficult. Friendship or love connections are especially strong in youth, when there is still no self-confidence, and social connections are not established and strong. It was during this period that fear of death can be especially strong. If you realize that you are afraid of death simply because she will break your attachment to some person to him, you will no longer be so scared, because there are many dangers in life. So there's no point in dwelling on of death– just take care of your feelings, because it’s in your power.

More fear of death associated with the fear of losing sensual pleasures and impressions with which life is so rich. Therefore, people immerse themselves in creativity, science, business, and if these types of activities are not available to them, then they begin to travel or engage in extreme sports, subconsciously playing with death, “taming” it. This can also be a way out for many, it will help get rid of of death, having become accustomed to her close proximity.

According to many sociological research, fear of death is one of the most common fears experienced by the vast majority of people. Fear of death- a very powerful fear that is present in every person, but you should try, if not completely eradicate it, then make it controllable.

Instructions

However, anxiety does not always go away when the situation is resolved successfully. It is not caused by the situation itself at all. Sometimes the feeling of constant anxiety is associated with illness thyroid gland. If they do not help, seek help from an endocrinologist.

note

Do not drown your anxiety in alcohol, the intoxication will pass, and you may find yourself unprepared for an unpleasant situation.

Phobias can be divided into two groups: standard fears that are inherent in any sane person, and phobias that are of an incomprehensible nature. Sometimes the reason for fear of something is unknown, and the phobia itself seems comical. But if you look at the situation with a sober look, there is nothing funny in such fears. It's really serious problem. A person suffering from any phobia can suffer serious mental injuries. As soon as you discover that you are afraid of something, begin treatment immediately.

Instructions

Analyze your phobia carefully. Let's say you are afraid of the dark. Explain to yourself: why exactly the darkness scares you; is what seems scary to you real? In what situations do you get scared when left without lighting? By calmly talking about your fears, you can mentally prepare yourself to deal with them.

Begin a thorough and detailed study of your fear. The point is that the more you pay attention to your fear, the sooner you will get used to it and be able to overcome it. As they say, you need to know the enemy by sight. For example, you are terribly afraid of dogs. Start small - learn not to feel fear when looking at photographs of these animals. Next, try to read the literature describing the behavior of dogs. Then try to communicate with the dog in person. And so, taking step by step, you will gradually get rid of your phobia. The main thing is not to rush to face your fear - if you are not fully mentally prepared to face it, it can only intensify.

After you have undergone thorough moral preparation to face your phobia, proceed to the next step - to " last battle"Remember, the main thing is self-control. To avoid falling into a state of panic, follow these tips: Breathe deeply. Calm, measured breathing helps you calm down and pull yourself together. Do deep breath and exhale 15-20 times. Constantly mentally tell yourself: “Stop!” The less you think about the details of the subject of your fear, the less it will frighten you. Communicate with your fear mentally. There is no need to deny its presence, one must understand that it is not significant.

Attention! If you doubt your abilities, consult a psychotherapist. You can fight phobias on your own only if you are confident that you can cope without the help of a professional. If your fear is very strong, it is better not to try to overcome it alone.

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In a person experiencing constant feeling, not only the nervous system is depleted, but also appetite decreases and sleep deteriorates. Various diseases can literally “stick” to it, ranging from respiratory diseases and ending with diabetes and stomach ulcers. Therefore, you should not ignore anxiety states, especially if they have become protracted.

Instructions

If you can't handle the feeling anxiety, think: perhaps the fastest and effective option getting rid of it will be a visit. A professional will be able to correctly understand the causes of anxiety and give a lot of truly useful advice on how to deal with it.

Try not to dwell on problems you had in the past. If some event has already happened, there is no point in “chewing” it for the thousandth time. If you can't change anything, just try to forget about it. At the same time, it is also impossible to predict what will happen tomorrow, so you should not worry about what may not even happen. Learn to think and live for today.

Are you in trouble? In some cases, it will be useful to analyze how big and important it is to you. Is it really necessary to spend time worrying about this?

Try to change negative judgments to positive ones. When you are waiting for some event, do not immediately set yourself up for defeat and failure, for a bad outcome. Better think about what you can do for success and a good result. And if something doesn’t work out, find the positive in the experience you gained and calmly analyze your mistakes.

Keep your thoughts busy with something useful. Think about your hobby, something creative work, about family or just stay busy. Physical activity will push bad thoughts into the background, or even dissolve them altogether.

Remember that artificial sedatives act only temporarily, but then can only aggravate your condition and can undermine your health. These include alcohol, cigarettes, drugs and sedatives and sleeping pills. By setting yourself up positively, you can cope without them.

The best remedy getting rid of constant anxiety is complete healthy sleep. When you rest, your body and soul are restored; Normal biochemical processes occur in the body that positively affect health, including mental health.

To the feeling constant anxiety And nervous exhaustion results from a lack of vitamin B. Therefore, to combat stress, try to take vitamin complexes containing this vitamin.

Another fairly effective means of relaxing and mastering your senses is meditation. Even 10-15 minutes will be enough for you to get rid of anxiety. Find a quiet place for yourself - it can be either your own apartment or a shady park, throw all unnecessary thoughts out of your head, breathe deeply and relax.

An excellent way to get yourself in order is to play sports. Find what you like best and try it. The time spent on sports will be rewarded to you a hundredfold, both in terms of physical health, and mental balance.

note

Anxiety is not related to any specific subject. From a psychological point of view, anxiety is emotional condition, in which there is a feeling of fear, anxiety, and a premonition that something bad will happen in the future. Try these methods for dealing with anxiety for yourself, and most likely, negative emotions they won't bother you. Well, if you couldn’t get rid of the feeling of anxiety on your own, consult a psychologist.

Helpful advice

The modern rhythm of life is very dynamic, and sometimes we have to face difficult life situations when circumstances test our strength. Remember, in any situation there is a way out.

Sources:

• how to get rid of anxiety in the soul

The word "phobia" comes from the Greek phobos - "fear". That is, it is a fear of something. For example, aerophobia - fear of heights, claustrophobia - fear of closed spaces, etc. The ability to experience fear is inherent in any person, even the bravest. This is probably an echo of those ancient times, when primitive people were completely helpless in the face of the forces of nature and large predators. But it's one thing when we're talking about about a real threat, risk, and quite another thing - if the fear is senseless, inexplicable, irrational.

Instructions

Try to call on cold logic for help and common sense. For example, there are people who are afraid to walk across a high bridge over a river or a mountain gorge. They are overcome by fear that the bridge will collapse under them and they will die. How to act in such a situation? We must convince ourselves: “The bridge was built taking into account increased loads, it is strong and reliable. Before my eyes, cars are driving along it, each of them many times heavier than me. And the bridge can withstand them perfectly.” Repeat these words in your mind over and over again.

Or we are talking about a fear of airplanes. Some people are terrified of this type of transport. At the very thought that they will have to fly somewhere, they are overcome with horror. They immediately remember reports about disasters and victims. Logic, supported by dispassionate statistics, can also help here. Even an alarmist will be influenced by the following arguments: yes, unfortunately, plane crashes do happen, but compared to the total number of flights, this happens extremely rarely. Immeasurably more people dies in road accidents, but you are not afraid to use a car or a bus. And for some reason the plane scares you.

Sometimes it is worth acting according to the method: “wedge with wedge” or: “like like.” In other words, you need to deliberately put yourself in situations where you will have to experience fear. And by an effort of will I overcome it, literally through “I can’t.” For example, you are afraid of communicating with strangers(social phobia). This means you have to force yourself to go shopping, attend meetings, concerts, and sporting events.

Are you afraid of dogs? Under any pretext, go to those you know who have a dog. Overcome yourself just once, gritting your teeth - then it will be much easier. The method is very effective, although it must be used with caution, because it can not only help solve the problem, but also aggravate it.

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There is no life without problems, it’s a shame, but that’s how it is. Almost everyone experiences anxiety to one degree or another, and it causes a lot of trouble. A person worries about the past, about the present, about the future, about children, about work... And this is far from full list all sorts of problems. Alexis Carrel, laureate Nobel Prize in the field of physiology, said that people who do not know how to deal with anxiety always die young.

Instructions

Reasons for the appearance worries are lack of self-confidence, the habit of bringing up the past, the desire to listen to the advice of strangers. Therefore, to combat these feelings, you will have to change your attitude towards life.

When making decisions under the pressure of public opinion, mistakes are often made, and as a result, a wrong action is committed, which one has to regret for a long time. Based on this, make all decisions yourself.

You can listen to the advice and opinion of another person, but nothing more. Always leave the final choice to yourself. By following this rule, you will determine your own life. If you don't worry about the wrong decision that someone made and it brought you harm, then there will be no one to blame for failures.

Make every decision taking into account the prevailing circumstances this moment. Accept the fact that you cannot know everything, predict and prevent some events. Consequently, you made a choice that you considered correct in this situation.

If suddenly this is not so, do not blame yourself, do not bring up the past, do not regret committed actions and decisions made. Don't worry about something that nothing can change. Shift your attention to today.

A person's life is influenced numerous factors. Never worry about what you have no control over. And most importantly, don’t push yourself too hard, don’t invent problems where there are none. Of course, tragedies happen in life - illnesses and deaths of loved ones, serious incidents, but all the things that people worry about every day are mostly petty and not worth deep worries.

Busyness displaces anxiety. The most brilliant mind cannot think about several things at once. Dance, go in for fitness, swim, bring yourself to such exhaustion that there is no room for any nonsense in your head.

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Fear represents natural reaction body to possible danger. The feeling of fear is based on the belief that a person cannot cope with certain life circumstances. In order to achieve success in life, you will have to learn to overcome this feeling within yourself.

Instructions

Create a habit of acting in the chosen direction, despite fear. Convince yourself that this is just a reaction to trying to take some action that you have not taken before. This reaction can also occur if you try to act against your beliefs. Over the years of life, a person develops a certain worldview, and when he acts contrary to basic concepts, this causes fear. But to achieve your goals you will have to step over it. Do not hesitate, the more time fears control you, the more difficult it is to overcome them. Tell yourself: “I’m scared, but I’ll do it anyway.”

Try to overcome fear in a logical way. To do this, analyze the options for the development of events and choose the worst of them. Assess your losses in this scenario. Once fear takes on concrete form as consequences for you, it ceases to pose a threat. The reason for this is the fact that at the heart of every fear is the unknown. If after detailed analysis the fear of possible consequences remains, which means it is justified. Then think about whether you really need to do this or that action.

Use the analysis method. Ask yourself what you are afraid of and why, whether there is a rational basis for the fear. Think about what you are more afraid of - doing something or not achieving your goal. If fear remains, then your emotions are stronger than logic. Then use visualization. Repeatedly replay in your imagination how you do what you fear. After you overcome the fear in your imagination, it will be much easier to do this in reality - a certain model of behavior will already be fixed at the subconscious level.

Constantly train your courage. Break your fear into several small ones and begin to overcome them one by one. Practice moving past your fears as if you were working out at the gym. Those. First you lift a small barbell weight. Then you gradually increase it, and now you are able to lift a fairly heavy barbell. For example, if you have fear public speaking, and due to the nature of your work you have to do this, start training with your family and friends. Then gather a larger audience and practice. And so you gradually increase the circle of listeners until all fears disappear.

Increase your own self-esteem. The more confidence you have in your own rightness, the easier it will be for you to overcome your fears. To do this, use self-hypnosis and visualization techniques.

Human fears can be very diverse, as well as the reasons that caused their appearance. Severe phobias are best treated under the guidance of a specialist. But an individual can cope with some fears on his own if he becomes aware of them and deals with the original source of his fear.

You will need

• - pen;
• - paper;
• - lighter or matches;
• - ashtray.

Instructions

Don't underestimate the impact fears have on your life. Some of them can seriously spoil a person's existence. Having settled in the subconscious, fears can cause depression, negative feelings and thoughts. An individual who is tormented by various phobias cannot fully enjoy life and experiences some dissatisfaction with the world around him and the events that happen to him. It turns out that fears can lead to real suffering and interfere with happiness. Therefore, they must be overcome.

Some fears can be difficult to identify and understand. Their reasons lie even deeper, in the subconscious itself. Sometimes, in order to find the source of a phobia, you have to deal with the individual’s distant childhood or even study the history of his family. However, if we discard clinical cases, you can even work with some fears on your own. And the first step to this is to realize that you are afraid of something.

Accept your fear and don't be ashamed of it. With your mind you are able to understand its meaninglessness, but this knowledge may not affect your essence. Keep in mind that fear is an emotion, and feelings cannot be immediately influenced by rationality or practicality. As soon as you stop fighting yourself and trying to internalize fear, when you start working with the phobia, it will become easier for you.

Try to get rid of fear using visualization. Have a pen and a piece of paper ready. Close your eyes and imagine a stressful situation when you are surrounded by the object of your fear. Try to depict your fear on paper. Draw all the details. Then tear the leaf into small pieces and burn the drawing.

Be patient and courageous. Enlist the support of your loved ones and try to face your fears. If you are not ready for this step, it is better not to force yourself. This means that your fear is too great, and you need to work on getting rid of it together with a psychologist.

Face your fear head on if you are willing to try to conquer it. Believe that you can say goodbye to her once and for all. Let there be a reliable, close person next to you. For example, if you are afraid of heights to the point of dizziness and knees, climb to a high floor and look down from the window. In this case, nothing will really happen to your life. Over and over again, you will come closer to your phobia, increasing the distance to the ground and the time spent at altitude, until eventually you conquer the fear and jump with a parachute.

Fear refers to a special psychological state that depresses the human body, depleting the nervous system. Often the feeling of fear arises from the fear of dying from some disease. Of course, constant fear can lead to serious changes in the human psyche, making his life a miserable existence. It is necessary to get rid of such fear as soon as possible.

How to overcome the fear of death

First of all, you should understand that this fear is useless, because death comes when the moment destined by fate arrives. And a person cannot change anything. We must learn to accept the concept of death as inevitable. In a word, death is an irreversible life process, which is a transition from one life to another. But this does not mean that a person will certainly die from a particular disease.

There is no need to withdraw into yourself, remaining alone with the problem. This approach can only make the situation worse. You should definitely share your experiences in conversation with family and friends.

There is no need to succumb to panic fear, much less run away from it. After all, only by turning your face to it, you can analyze it and realize with surprise that this fear was created by your own imagination.

Help from a psychologist in dealing with the fear of death

As a rule, anxiety, depression and stress due to illness significantly impede healing. Very often, a sick person is not able to cope with anxiety on his own. Therefore, in such a situation, it is advisable to seek psychological help. Exactly qualified specialist Such a profile is able to listen to the patient and help him cope with his state of mind.

The help of a psychologist should not be neglected. Psychotherapy is one of the important conditions formation of an adequate attitude not only to the disease, but also to life in general.

A psychologist at a difficult moment in a person’s life can understand his problem and suggest the right solution. In this way, the patient gets the opportunity to take a fresh look at the situation.

Today there are various ways and methods of psychological influence that allow you to relax a person, reducing the grip of fear. By using different methods You can overcome the feeling of fear acquired at any period of life. You can also cope with fear by distracting yourself from harmful thoughts. You should occupy your head with something else: read a book, breathe deeply, count your breaths. This will help drive away terrifying images and, accordingly, maintain control over yourself.

Reduce influence obsessive fear death can be done with proper nutrition and physical activity. It is imperative to exclude caffeine from the diet, as it contributes to the maintenance of phobia symptoms. There are also different types psychological trainings, aimed at treating a specific fear. Deprogramming of consciousness, isotherapy and hypnosis help well in the fight against fear.

Anxiety can arise unexpectedly and for no particular reason. At such moments a person feels fear, fear for someone close to him or expects some bad events. It is difficult to call such a state a premonition. Fears are justified only in in rare cases. However, anxious feelings can cause serious harm psychological state.

Instructions

Main danger feelings of anxiety lie in the fact that the person himself cannot understand the source of his fears and the cause of his worries. You can try to cope with such emotional stress on your own, but if there is no result, it is better to seek help from specialists.

Psychotherapists are of the opinion that feelings of anxiety can arise due to environmental influences. For example, if a person is constantly exposed to stressful situations, he is prone to excessive worries over trifles and depression. Anxiety may be accompanied by some physical abnormalities - attacks of suffocation, pain in the heart and tremors of the hands.

The main method of treating anxiety is taking special medications. These drugs primarily include tranquilizers. Antidepressants can also help cope with anxiety. It's important to remember what to use medications It is better only after consulting a doctor. It is likely that the specialist will prescribe more serious drugs belonging to the group of antipsychotics.

The most in a simple way The way to combat anxiety is to control your emotions and change your daily routine. Pay attention to your diet. Try to eat more natural products high in vitamins and useful substances. It is better to avoid foods high in sugar.

Herbal infusions can relieve anxiety in a short time. Calming herbs include St. John's wort, motherwort, and lemon balm. Dry mixtures are poured with boiling water and then infused for some time. You should drink such drinks regularly, even after getting rid of internal anxiety.

Fears are strong negative emotions that prevent you from enjoying life, rejoicing, loving, and looking for yourself. Overcoming your own fear means opening the door to new life full of freedom and confidence.

Instructions

Accept your fear. If you turn a blind eye to him, you will only make the problem worse. Look into your soul and formulate everything that you are afraid of. Remember that you are not alone: ​​millions of people around the world experience the same or similar fears. And then try to choose your own method of dealing with fears.

The first way to overcome fear is to act quickly and spontaneously. For example, you are afraid to speak in public. When you are preparing for a performance, you constantly work yourself up, vividly imagine pictures of yourself, etc. As a result, when you step up to the podium, you begin to stutter, blush, and forget the words you were supposed to say. To avoid this, prepare to speak as if another person will speak instead of you. Those. prepare your speech carefully, but “forget” that you will have to deliver it for large cluster of people. And in right moment go on stage and give your speech without thinking about how scared you are.

Another way to overcome fear is to gradually overcome it. For example, you are a shy girl, you really like your neighbor, but you are afraid to talk to him. First, you should learn to talk to other guys without being embarrassed. Take small steps to achieve this: sincerely thank the man who held the elevator for you, in a store ask a stranger to get a high-placed item for you, ask a passerby for directions. Once you start doing this without embarrassment, try asking a nice neighbor with a small request and be sure to sincerely thank him. Develop your communication little by little: starting with minor phrases about the weather, after a few weeks you may be talking about more interesting topics.

The next technique for dealing with fears is called “Hyperbole.” This method is based on the fact that you need to come up with the worst possible scenario for the development of events. For example, you are afraid of being fired from your job. Imagine being fired, you can't find new job, you become depressed, you stop taking care of yourself, you start drinking, you are kicked out of the house, you turn into a tramp. Do you really think that such a scenario is possible? If yes, then you need the help of a psychologist, because... your self-esteem is at an extremely low level. And if you don’t think that losing your job could result in vagrancy, then you shouldn’t be afraid of it. Very often, negative events, such as divorce, job loss, illness, force a person to mobilize, show all his abilities and become more confident and happier as a result.

Let's not pause

“I can’t wait to go on vacation,” “I’m counting down the days until the end of the school year,” “In winter, I feel like I’m hibernating.” People often spend a lot of time waiting for some important event for them: vacation, holiday, holidays, the return of a spouse from a long business trip, the arrival of children for a visit. It is not surprising that you get the impression that life is rushing past you, because you do not live it, but freeze in anticipation of the desired event. But time cannot be paused - days, weeks, months and even years fly by as if nothing had happened. Try to find something good and enjoy every day. Even with a busy schedule, you can find an hour or two to get your share positive emotions: listen during lunch break favorite music, read a fascinating book on the subway, in the evening while walking the dog, turn off your usual route and go to the lake or the nearest park. The more eventful your life is, the less you will feel like years are wasted.

Down with stereotypes

Get rid of stereotypes regarding age: getting married, getting married, having children, rollerblading and cycling, getting a higher education and wearing bright clothes is possible as long as you have the desire to do it. Remove the time frame for yourself, and your life will become much simpler and more pleasant, you will disappear the feeling that you only have a couple of years left to wear your favorite ripped jeans, and then it will simply become indecent. You are not participating in a marathon and are not late, you can enjoy your favorite things as much as you think necessary, and realize yourself at any age, you have plenty of time ahead, and you will have time for everything.

Set goals

To make life less fleeting, set goals and achieve them. It is advisable that you have both long-term goals: graduate from a university, rise to the position of director, educate children, and shorter-term projects: study foreign language, get a driving license, plan a trip. Looking back, you will be able to see that you did not waste your time: you accomplished what you had planned and remember perfectly well what exactly you did and how much effort it cost you. At the same time, you have plans for the future, which means that life goes on, and you will make it as interesting, productive and eventful as possible.

Why do phobias occur?

All fears not related to the instinct of self-preservation are called pathological, that is, phobias. They arise for various reasons, for example, due to stress suffered in childhood or ordinary “winding up” of oneself with negative thoughts or memories associated with a certain subject. In general, the causes of phobias are poorly studied, but some patterns can still be identified:

1. Fears associated with childhood. For example, fear of the dark, heights, loneliness or water. Up to a certain age, the presence of such fears is considered normal, but if people continue to experience childhood fears into adulthood, it is worth considering.

2. Phobias often occur in people with a weak psyche, increased hostility or aggressiveness.

3. Another one possible reasons is the conformism of some people. That is, a person succumbs to the opinion of the majority or another person that one should be afraid of something, for example, spiders, a cemetery, air travel, etc.

4. The desire to attract attention also often becomes the cause of phobias. Most often, diseases for this reason occur in women and children.

How to deal with phobias

There are a lot of phobias, sometimes reaching the point of absurdity. For example, there are people who are afraid of long words, certain plants, rain, snow or sun. And there are also phobias that do not allow you to perform important actions and meet the needs of life - fear of food, diseases, people, work and much more. Undoubtedly, in such situations you should consult a doctor, however, if the phobia is not so absurd and not in an extreme stage, you have the opportunity to recover from it on your own.

First you need to get rid of negative thoughts and learn to turn them into positive ones. As soon as you are overcome by a feeling of fear of a terrible event that could or should happen, try to think about something good and pleasant.

The next thing you need to do is stop avoiding your fear. you should meet him face to face. Often people who leave lights on everywhere. And if a person is afraid of confined spaces, he will never use the elevator. This is wrong, and to solve the problem you need to learn how to cope with yourself in stressful situations. Many people say that reading or singing helps them, some start counting or talking loudly. The main thing is to ensure that your breathing remains even and deep.

So, after overcoming your fear several times, you will understand that it is not so difficult. And soon your phobias will disappear forever. After this, you will be able to get more joy and pleasure from life, and you will also remain confident in any situation.

Instructions

The most alarming things can be caused by different reasons, but most often it is negative past experience. It will be important to realize the fact that the past cannot be changed, but it is quite possible to change the future. Therefore, there is no need to worry about past mistakes, setbacks and failures; this only provokes an increase in anxiety before the next decisive event.

Also, if you have feelings of anxiety, it is important to analyze the situation. Understanding the cause of anxiety at any given moment is one of the steps towards overcoming it. After realizing the reason, you need to evaluate the adequacy of this feeling: is the upcoming task or change of plans really worth worrying about so much. In this case, it is desirable to minimize the value of the upcoming event in order to reduce anxiety, i.e. There’s no point in making a mountain out of a mountain again.

Anxiety can be reinforced by anticipation. When something is about to happen that does not depend on the person himself, it is important to take it for granted. If nothing can be changed and it is impossible to influence, what is the point of worrying again? In such situations, it is better to switch to some other activity: sports, creativity, cleaning, cooking - whatever. At the same time, it is advisable not to do this “automatically”; on the contrary, you need to devote yourself completely to the new process. So the brain switches to another activity, and it will not be able to “think two thoughts” at the same time.

Another step towards overcoming anxiety is healthy sleep. If a person chronically does not get enough sleep, he becomes more anxious and stressed. You need to determine for yourself the amount of sleep that helps your body rest and allows you to recuperate. Building a career or having fun at night at the expense of sleep means contributing to anxiety and exposing the body to stress.

Each person can develop their own ways of dealing with incipient anxiety. These can be peculiar rituals that a person resorts to when he needs to relax and calm down: for some it is yoga or breathing exercises, for others - auto-training or reciting mantras, for others prayers help, for others - relaxing baths or a certain dish “from childhood”. It is worth resorting to these methods, brought to the point of automation, at the slightest onset of anxiety.

In some cases, to get rid of anxiety, you need to turn to specialists. If, along with anxiety, pain in the heart area, dizziness, lack of air, panic attacks, or fear of an upcoming event appear, it is advisable to consult a psychotherapist so that it does not get worse. It is from such seemingly insignificant symptoms that people develop the strongest irrational phobias. A specialist can recommend some sedatives, folk remedies in the form of herbal decoctions, will offer techniques for in-depth analysis of the situation and thereby prevent further development of the problem.

Everything that worries us, fear of the unknown, of upcoming changes in life, fear of losing something, all this and much more, it is so intangible and sometimes not subject to our correct perception and subjective assessment that we simply go into a stupor and do not We know how to approach this correctly. This is where that notorious feeling of anxiety appears.

Anxiety is a consequence of a problem that has arisen. Let's try to figure out what methods are best to deal with the feeling of anxiety, depending on the complexity of the problem.

First, you need to understand the root cause of the problem. anxiety state. And try to find a rational explanation for the situation that has arisen. Then you need to try to choose the most simple methods solving the main problem that has arisen. When a logical chain for resolving the problem that has arisen has formed in your head, it will no longer seem as global to you as you previously pictured in your imagination.

Secondly, try not to think about the bad. Shake yourself up with simple physical exercise. This will get your blood pumping and make your brain work faster, picking up clues to solve the problem.

Thirdly, come up with a pleasant reward for yourself for the way out of the situation that you have come up with, in order to relieve the feeling of anxiety, treat yourself to something sweet or what you love. This again will help the brain concentrate on the problem and anxiety will fade into the background. Or, on the contrary, take your attention away from the problem and watch an interesting movie. What if in the film some situations and phrases of the characters prompt you to the right thoughts.

If the problem seems absolutely insoluble, then just lie down and sleep. In a dream nervous tension will go away on its own, and as a result, the feeling of anxiety will go away. This will allow you to act with a clear head. And remember, there is always a way out, even when you are eaten.

One of the most powerful negative emotions is fear. The feeling of fear arises mainly from experiences from childhood, that is, it is based on experiences of the past, unless, of course, it is associated with danger occurring at a given moment in time. Fear is the constant work of “thought viruses” that appeared as a result of improper parenting, the erroneous worldview of teachers at school or culture.

If you think about it, fear in reality in itself has no basis. Fear is Small child living in every adult, who sometimes wakes up and begins to interfere in the quiet life of an adult. Some people believe that fear must be dealt with solely by overcoming it with the help of willpower. But you won’t get rid of it that easily.

Outwardly, we try to pretend that with the help of logic we have convinced ourselves that there is no fear, but the frightened child, hiding inside the consciousness, cannot perceive these arguments of reason. Few people know about this, but a child has only two types of fear, the rest are just variations of the first two, these are: fear of not being loved and fear based on survival. If you think about it, you can agree that most fears are completely different people really revolve around these basic types of fear.

Unfortunately, from childhood we are taught to overcome fear only through persuasion and suppression, but we just need to teach ease in dealing with fear. Of course, everyone wants to look strong and any person will go to any lengths just to create the image of a person who is not afraid of anything. We become ashamed of what and what we are afraid of, and we begin to torment ourselves for it.

If we learn to naturally accept the presence of fear or phobias, instead of seeing strength only as the absence of fear, then our mature self will no longer transform into the fearfulness of a small child. Instead of appreciating our sensitivity, thanks to the bias towards phobias, we hide it. The path to overcoming fear lies through self-knowledge. Recognize your capabilities and let go of harsh self-criticism.

What is fear really? Fear arises precisely when a person finds himself in a situation that threatens his existence, socially or biologically. Scientists believe that the feeling of fear is inherent in nature. This mechanism serves as a kind of warning about upcoming danger and allows you to focus on finding a way out of the current situation. However, fear may also be unfounded. For example, when a person is in a state of anticipation before unknown events.

Any person has life experience, consisting of both positive and negative experiences. Every time you experience something negative, it leaves a certain imprint in the subconscious. When such a negative experience is repeated, and also intensified by the forced need to repeat unsuccessful actions, the fear of failure intensifies and is consolidated. For example, why is it believed that in a football match the home team has a much better chance of winning? Because there is information - your field, your country, etc. This means information and awareness helps to overcome fear. If football players are well informed about their opponents, the conditions of the match, the customs and morals of the country, then there will simply be no room for fear and anxiety in their minds.

Interestingly, some scientists view the feeling of surprise as a form of fear. They believe that surprise sometimes arises under the same circumstances as fear. When a person is surprised, he focuses his attention on the causes of the unusual phenomenon, and the feeling of fear forces him to look for ways to avoid the threat. And if both of these feelings are connected in this way, then shifting the emphasis and attention from the results of an event to its causes will allow you to overcome the most negative emotion in the world - fear.

Fear of death (thanatophobia) is a human phobia, expressed in an obsessive, uncontrollable fear of suddenly dying or a reflection of experiences of the unknown, something incomprehensible and uncertain. Many people admit to themselves that they are afraid of death, but such an admission does not mean that they are afraid of life or in any way this fear prevents them from living happily. Often educated, inquisitive people are susceptible to thanatophobia, which is caused by the desire to control their life in everything. But with death, as with birth, people cannot do anything. So what’s the point of thinking about it, being afraid of it, if a person cannot change anything.

Causes of fear of death

The peculiarities of any fear are marked by an error in the perception of the picture of the world. A person’s phobia acts as a kind of signal of the need to change something in his life in order to lead an effective and harmonious life. And only you can decide for yourself: whether to deal with your phobias in order to live harmoniously and happily, or continue to live according to your own desires, while forgetting about dreams, life aspirations, hiding your experiences deeply from yourself and from others.

Elderly people tend to feel that death is approaching, because every day they live brings them closer to the abyss. Many people understand this, but for most people, the approach of the end is an even greater reason to appreciate the present, enjoy and experience all the happy moments of life. A significant portion of individuals are afraid of dying, which is quite logical, because this fear can arise for reasons beyond a person’s control. Some people experience fear of death due to old age, others are worried about the death of loved ones and the associated loss of them. Some are afraid of the very fact of becoming dead, while for others the experience itself is hidden in the act of cessation of life activity. But if a person's phobia is so strong that it affects daily life, then this is not just a problem, but some forms of the disease that are associated with the central nervous system.

No one is able to answer the question of what death is, so everyone is afraid of it. While a person is alive, there is no death, but with its arrival, life ends. Therefore, one of the reasons for the fear of dying is the fear of the destructive side of death, since there is nothing after it.

The occurrence of thanatophobia can be influenced by the loss of a loved one. Sometimes it is enough to penetrate into consciousness a frightening image associated with the end of life. The media also play an important role in shaping the launch of the idea of ​​thanatophobia in the psyche. The individual begins to think about his death and the consciousness searches for answers to all incomprehensible questions with painful soul searching. Thus, thanatophobia is a natural process of understanding the idea of ​​the finitude of human existence.

How to get rid of the fear of death

The fear of dying lives deeply in every individual and often during his life a person faces death. There may be accidents serious illnesses, domestic injuries, emergencies, military actions, but, despite this, a person finds the strength to overcome horror and get rid of this phobia, continuing to live, love, develop, get an education, and enjoy life.

Those who experience this phobia should live their lives in such a way that on their deathbed they can affirmatively say: “I did not live my life in vain and filled it with bright, memorable moments.” Constantly experiencing this fear and hiding behind it is burying yourself “alive.”

How to overcome the fear of death? Answer yourself the question: “Is death so terrible that you lose the ability to move forward in life?” Often the attitude towards death changes with age and in the process life path the experience gained makes it possible to create defensive reactions to this phobia.

Kids usually believe in their exclusivity: “I’m special, so I can’t die.” When faced with death, children understand it in their own way: “grandfather just fell asleep and will wake up soon.” Children often lack knowledge, which completely confuses them in understanding the natural and inevitable final stage existence of the individual.

In adolescence, children begin to believe in a higher power or a personal savior who will not allow anything irreparable or terrible to happen.

Teenagers tend to romanticize, ridicule, or flirt with death. This gives rise to suicidal tendencies and the desire to assert oneself in this way. Teenagers often do not understand that “playing with death” can really lead to death. Deviations at developmental stages in children can lead to the formation of a persistent fear of dying.

So, how to get rid of the fear of death? Many, fearing death, try to distance themselves from it, do not visit dying relatives, and avoid appearing in the cemetery. However, irreversible cessation of life will still occur for everyone. It is necessary to realize the following cycle: birth-life-death. Everything that has a beginning also has its end and this is inevitable. Therefore, you should live the way you want. Don't waste your life worrying about this pattern. It is necessary to replace experiences with new acquaintances, impressions of communicating with interesting people, one should read and rethink philosophical or religious literature about the inevitable cessation of life. You need to do everything that can distract you from this phobia.

One of the methods that specialists use to combat this disorder is to instill in patients the confidence that life is valuable in the present moment. If you are afraid of the coming day, then enjoy the present. The individual should find the strength to look at the inevitable future differently and accept it. If you don’t have enough strength, you need to seek psychological help. Fear of sudden death is successfully treated with hypnosis, and some cases are cured with cognitive therapy.

Hello. It all began to seem empty and in vain to me, that everyone was scurrying around like ants, and in the end we were all waiting for the same thing - death. I love myself and my loved ones so much that it’s scary to imagine the torment of any of us! It’s also scary to imagine how the body will be burned or worms will eat it. Because of this, you begin to think about the futility of taking care of yourself, about all sorts of creams and clothes. After all, the body is perishable. You begin to think why this cycle was invented. Why should they suffer and suffer? good people? Why “Someone” created us so fragile in the face of danger. I am now an unemployed smart girl with 2 higher education. I have osteochondrosis and there is a ringing in my ear. But a panic attack happened at work 2 years ago, when nothing was bothering me. The work was not interesting and monotonous. There were people in the team that were boring to me. All people, by the way, seem to me somehow naive, relaxed and not knowing what awaits them. And I’m always tense and thinking about “this”

• Hello, Elena. This is exactly the case when “woe from mind.” You are absolutely right and correctly noted that many do not bother with eternal questions: life and death. Maybe they are right, since their thoughts are aimed at living life here and now. On the other hand, the realization that life is fleeting may give you the idea of ​​living every day happily.

Perhaps my comment will help someone))) the fear of death appeared when I was 7 years old. Childhood took its toll and I forgot myself, playing with friends, reading books, but once or twice a month, I froze and grew cold from this thought - death will come and there’s no escape from it!
At the age of forty I was given a brochure about Christ. There was also a prayer of repentance. I read it and put it aside. And the next day (I was alone at home) I knelt down (as advised in the brochure) and said this simple prayer, not counting on anything. Sounds were still flying from my lips, and from behind and from above, it came down - You are forgiven!
I chose this word on purpose - it came down! Because there is no other way to express what happened and how it happened. The rest of the day passed in some kind of euphoria and joy. And only the next day, I realized the reason for the enduring joy - the fear of death disappeared! At all! I no longer woke up at night, didn’t freeze, didn’t get cold inside from that thought. That thought was no longer in my head! For 8 years, from 1996 to 2003, I went to meetings at the Baptist meeting house (they were the ones who gave me that brochure). In 2004 I left the church, a year later I threw away the Bible, and a year later I renounced Christ. Another year was spent on liberation from the fear of sin (those who have been born again know what it is - the fear of sin). And only a year later, after that, the fear of death returned, but not that pathological one, but a simple and clear thought - I am a man and I am mortal.

I'm only 16, and I already have advanced thanatophobia. From the age of 3 I understand what death is. Every day before going to bed I struggle with the thoughts “I, too, will die someday, I will be gone, and someday my family will be gone too. What happens after death? I'm tired of crying every night. I'm afraid to tell my mom. I just can’t hold it all in anymore.

Hello, I’m 19 and it seems that I shouldn’t even think about death, but in short, I believe in rebirth and I probably don’t even have a fear of death, but some kind of sadness, depression because rebirth involves the loss of memories of past lives and this is so It’s terrible to realize that you will forget everything: your relatives, your home, the person you will love... and, in the end, yourself. And you keep thinking, how many lives have there already been, how many times have I had the same thoughts in past lives, how many times have I forgotten my family and loved ones, how many more times will I think about this in the future? next lives... so scared that I’ll forget my parents, native home, friends, I will forget THIS life of mine...
Write if you want to help, but without “live in the present moment” or “change your religion” it will only make things worse. Thank you for listening)

Hello everyone!! I am 25 years old, got married 5 years ago and gave birth to a son, he is 4 years old,) these 4 years I did not see happiness, I was always stressed, I could not feel how my son was growing, he was constantly sick and this made me stressed, and everything was bad with my husband, and no desire to do anything, dress like I’ve lost the taste for life (and there’s always death in my head, that if I die I won’t have time to do anything in life

The fear of one's own death is present, but unobtrusively. True, sometimes it happens that I can’t sleep: I see myself dead (mentally). My mother died, more than a year has passed since then. What scares the crap out of me is not knowing: what's wrong with her? Isn't she scared, isn't she in pain? I pray for her as best I can, and I myself don’t believe in what I’m doing.

In 2016, my husband and I decided to adopt 2 children from Ukraine. The procedure for international adoption, in a nutshell, is a blatant pumping of money, they paid for the SV accompanied by them, fed them in restaurants, etc. If you try to object, they put a spoke in the wheels and delay the stay….
Since then I started having nightmares - I wake up in horror - Sasha, they won’t give us children. And this continued until we returned home with the children.
But the nightmares have not stopped - almost every night I wake up in fear, trying to explain to my husband why I must die. The reason is that in a dream, it seems to me that due to some missed actions (I didn’t formalize something, didn’t send it on time), I am facing the fact of an unnameable death.
I'm already tired of this. But I don't know how to stop this.

I have been living with thoughts of death almost every day for many years. For me, fighting this fear is useless. It can be drowned out, but it is unlikely that it will be possible to completely come to terms with the realization that life is finite. A psychologist can probably help a person learn to deal with this inevitability more calmly, I don’t know, I’ve never addressed it. But it seems to me that the best way is to find some noble, worthy goal in life. At one time I also suffered greatly from the fact that I was going to die. Until at some point I realized that the cruelty and injustice of the world brings me even greater suffering than the inevitability of death, and this made me want, on the contrary, to quickly leave this world. If you think about it, you will notice that while someone is enjoying life, having fun and rushing to fulfill all their desires, at this time a lot of people, abandoned children and homeless animals are suffering around them. Every second someone in the world suffers or dies. For me this realization is unbearable. Therefore, I hasten to help, because I cannot stand the suffering and torment of others and I no longer care about myself and my fears. Good deeds in relation to unfortunate people or animals bring me some peace.
Maybe this method will help someone else forget a little about the fear of death.

Hello, I didn’t find my case in the article. I’m afraid to die early, without having lived my life fully, I’m afraid to grow old, since old age leads to death, I’m afraid that my life will be interrupted and everything that is so dear and valuable to me will become of no use to anyone. Before, I always thought about the future, planned ahead, dreamed. Now I'm scared to plan something for a month in advance, it seems that it is so long and that I may not live to see the end of this month. I want to get rid of this, I don’t know how... now it has become difficult to do something or act or decide on something.

• Almagul, I’ve been living with this for many years. And now I began to understand that death, just like life, cannot be canceled and no matter what we do, no matter where we look, the law of nature cannot be canceled. This means you just have to live and smile. And also, believe that we live forever. Good luck.

Hi all. The fear of death is terrible all the time and I think about it everywhere, if something hurts somewhere I immediately think that it’s fatal, I’ve almost seen all the doctors. The tears constantly go away for a while, and again they cover you with a wave of these thoughts. Anyone who dealt with this, please write...

• I have the same thoughts. I have been living in this fear for several years and it is driving me crazy. I have many chronic diseases and I am terribly afraid of dying from some. My sister was dying hard, screaming, “I don’t want to die,” but she died in agony. Now I felt even more scared. I have completely lost sleep and live in horror. Anyone who has experienced this will understand.

Nine months ago I was treated for neuro-asthenic syndrome. I feel better, but my blood pressure has appeared, sometimes I worry about dizziness, I also have cervical osteochondrosis, in addition, an obsessive thought has appeared: my consciousness seems to periodically inspire me, i.e., the thought “I will soon die” appears in my head, but I drive these thoughts away with all my might and I inspire myself, either out loud or silently, with the following words: “No, I will live happily ever after!” This is how two thoughts argue in my mind: one negative, the other positive. And it all started during my illness. Since my youth, and to this day, I am still bothered by the fear of death (when I think about it, it becomes so creepy, scary, everything inside gets cold). How can I get rid of these thoughts? Maybe I should contact some specialist?) Please tell me if you can.

• I also developed a fear of death. I dealt with fear using Slavinsky GP 4 and deep PEAT techniques. It is not easy. The fear of death has many roots (reasons), each of which should be worked through and removed. I don't know any other ways.

Good afternoon! I am 40 years old. My fear of PA appeared 8 months ago, when there were problems in gynecology, which were resolved. Now every day I am afraid of getting sick and dying. I went to all the doctors and get tested as soon as I feel a tingling sensation. I saw a psychiatrist and was prescribed Paxil and Grandaxin. They only make me feel worse. I take afobazole, it helps a little, but as soon as you quit it everything comes back. For some reason I feel very bad from the morning until 4 o’clock in the afternoon (I’m scared), but by the evening it gets better and I almost normal person, I sleep normally. Why is this happening? I even had to quit, I couldn’t work. Thank you!

• Elena, I also suffer from this problem, fear eats me up (thanatophobia), I also take antidepressants. Only tranquilizers help. I think I'm slowly losing my mind. Because of this illness I also don’t work. Although she was a successful girl, she worked as a nurse and drove a car. And now I’m sitting at home or with my mother or husband….thoughts of suicide, I’m tired of living like this…. I am 32 years old. Write me an email if you want: rudermanelina(dog)gmail.com

  The use of antidepressants should always be in parallel with therapy with a psychotherapist. Necessarily. The simplest thing that can be recommended to alleviate the condition is working with the body (clamps), 16 muscle groups using a special technique (tension-relaxation) and breathing 7-7-7-7 (inhale on the count of 7, then stop and up to 7 , then exhale to the count of 7 and so on). After that, we work with thoughts and attitudes. Only joint actions will help.

  After the operation, I began to be afraid of everything, derealization, obsessive thoughts about murder, as a result, now I’m afraid of death and losing loved ones, I also don’t know what to do about it, I’m going to see a psychotherapist, I don’t know what he will tell me and how he will help me, I’ve only seen one psychologist session, nothing has happened yet.

U panic fear Death symptoms are the same as any other phobia.

However, there are also specific signs, characteristic only of thanatophobia.

Thanatophobia: the essence of the problem

Thanatophobia included in the group anxiety disorders. It represents the fear of death, which is pathological in nature. Any Living being feels such fear - and this is normal. Thanks to this fear, a person’s instinct of self-preservation is triggered in life-threatening situations. However, some people - and in fact there are a lot of them - experience constant panic fear of the possibility of dying. These thoughts become intrusive, crowding out other thoughts, interests, and experiences. A person cannot control or explain this feeling. This is thanatophobia.

Very few people do not sometimes worry about what the process of dying and death itself represent, what will happen to them after they leave this world. These thoughts are within the normal range, but only until a person begins to think only about this. It is normal to worry, be afraid, or worry about this in conditions that pose a threat to human life. But if he is constantly afraid, even when there is no real threat, these are already signs of pathological fear that goes beyond the norm.

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Personality characteristics of a thanatophobe

Not every person develops a feeling of panic before death. People with accentuated character traits are usually susceptible to developing this condition: they are sensitive, vulnerable, suspicious, excitable, and anxious. They usually have low self-esteem, they are not self-confident, they tend to get stuck in cycles, and there are many hypochondriacs among them. There are a lot of creative and scientific people among those with thanatophobia. Such people are very often selfish, stubborn and do not tolerate criticism, ignoring any views of others that differ from their own. Along with this, they are incredibly energetic and motivated.

A constant feeling of fear exhausts a person. Thanatophobes are in a constant state of anxiety, depression, anxiety, the cause of which they cannot explain. They are often nervous, irritable and aggressive, and they are not able to control this. Their mood is gloomy and depressed. Against this background, depressive disorder often develops.

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Signs of panic fear of death

Thanatophobia is accompanied by a number of characteristic symptoms. In particular, it is possible to identify that a person experiences fear of death by the characteristics of his behavior and reactions. Here are the most characteristic signs:

1. Personality type. Patients are very impressionable, doubt everything, are easily excitable and anxious.
2. Attitude towards death. Thanatophobes can behave in different ways. Thus, one person may in every possible way suppress any conversations on the topic of death, avoid funeral processions and wakes, and experience horror in front of symbols (for example, monuments, tombstones, wreaths). And the other, on the contrary, will constantly and obsessively discuss the topic of death.
3. Panic attack. A person may begin sudden attack fear, which is very acute. Panic attacks accompanied by increased sweating, tremors of the hands and feet, internal trembling, severe shortness of breath, rapid heart rate, derealization, dizziness, fainting, nausea.
4. Associated fears. In addition to funerals and the symbolism associated with them, a person may be afraid of ghosts, spirits, and the dead. Usually such fears have a religious basis.
5. Other violations. Shallow sleep, nightmares, insomnia, loss of appetite, decreased libido - these are characteristic manifestations of fear.

Thanatophobia is one of the most complex phobias. Firstly, it turns a person’s life into a complete nightmare. Secondly, it is not so easy to cope with and cure.

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Causes of fear of death

The reasons that trigger the development of thanatophobia are not fully understood. Psychotherapists point to the following possible factors:

• genetic predisposition;
• social influence;
• heredity.

In addition, there are several theories explaining the occurrence of thanatophobia. Here they are:

1. Personal experience. Often it is the sudden death of a loved one that becomes trigger mechanism to develop fear. A person protests against death in an irrational way.
2. External influence. The Internet, newspapers, television, etc. have a strong influence on the human psyche. Through information received from these sources, a person may develop an image of death.
3. Personal development. Throughout life, a person develops, degrading or progressing in his development. As a person develops, he asks philosophical questions about existence, the meaning of life, death, etc. This can develop existential anxiety when a person’s thoughts are filled with ideas of a threatening nature (for example, about non-existence after death, etc.).
4. Age. A person can experience fear of death at any age, but people between the ages of 35 and 50 are most susceptible to it. This is explained by the crisis of adulthood, a new round in personal development, the acquisition of new thinking, values, and ideology.
5. Religious Beliefs. Believers are convinced that they know everything about what awaits them after death. But their great fear is not of death itself, but of their own sins, and of the fact that after death God will punish them for these sins.
6. Fear of the unknown. If a person is terribly afraid of everything new, incomprehensible, unknown, this can serve as a springboard for the development of thanatophobia.
7. The desire to control everything. If a person is pedantic and strives to keep everything that happens in his life under control, this can become more pronounced over time and become an impetus for the development of obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Thanatophobia is one of the most difficult phobias to treat.