How do you deal with fear of death?

Death itself doesn't scare me and while I am religious that doesn't actually change my view on it much. At worst being dead is functionally the same as being asleep or under sedation, but forever.

What does scare me? The process involved in becoming dead. I have seen some horrific suffering in my life. Truthfully most deaths aren't very pleasent, almost no one "dies in their sleep at home" randomly.
 
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I'm not afraid of death, in fact I'm fine with it coming for me at any time. I just am afraid of it being very painful and/or scary. Preferably it'll come for me in a manner that's instant and without warning; where I'm dead before I even hit the ground.

I hope, but don't really believe that there's an afterlife. I have a few people who I'd give anything to see and be with again. Hopefully we'll all arrive in the same (good) place. I'm confident that if an afterlife exists, they're in the good place.
 
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There is no cure for birth and death, so just enjoy what’s in between. I think all humans naturally fear death as it does seem like a frightening concept, we cannot comprehend a realm outside of our own existence, to simply live and then have your existence stop, like a watch nobody can be bothered to wind up. But than when you really think about it, what is there to be afraid of? death is simply a non-event if you cease to be, no pain no sensation, it is a state that all living beings eventually end up as, so why we should fear something out of our power and that is virtually impossible to understand from a living mind?

I want to be hopeful that some kind of other life waits for us when I draw my final breath , but if there Isn’t, well they’ll be no ‘me’ to worry about it. I don’t fear death personally but rather how I’ll die, so many people historically have had agonisingly painful, drawn out or hopeless deaths, to have your last moments of living being in complete agony or despair just before your existence ends, your last moments of living spent in pure agony stretched out forever in time before your life ends permanently, now thats truly something to fear.
 
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For me it's dying painfully. Like getting my face eaten off by a dog, or being dragged and held under by an alligator until I drown, or being set on fire, or being tortured by having my dick and limbs cut off before they slit my throat. Shit like that scares me.
 
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Ive nearly died a few times and i certainly cant speak for everyone but if its incredibly painful there is a good chance your adrenline and shock will overcast the sober fears of whats next to come. I used to be terrified of cancer until some friends and family died of cancer pretty much in front of me and i dont really care anymore. Depending on the way you go, its a lot like falling asleep or passing out from being drunk, especially if youre juiced up on pain drugs. If its terrifying the fear turns into a strange calm and you accept it as that, a sort of overwhelming calm just washes over you and you somehow embrace it. I had some thoughts at first im leaving my loved ones behind, or ill never get to see my pets again, but as quickly as those thoughts manifested they were gone and I was ok with it. I feel a great deal of peace in letting go when the time comes, that we all have to do it some day, no matter how.

Acute radiation sickness is probably the worst way to go and the only remaining fear of death i have that i know of. Fuck that shit.
 
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Tbh I’m not scared of death I’m scared of hell. I come from a fairly irreligious family but I’ve found some of the arguments for god more plausible then I previously thought.
 
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Since we're talking about death, I'd like to share a tautological maxim with you:
The Tautology of the Observer: "The observer and its objects of observation share an ontological equivalence"

What this means is to logically say, "absent the observer, absent its objects of observations and vice-versa".

You, being an observer, won't exist if there was nothing for you to observe and that is, in essence, the true characteristic of your conscious. If such a condition is emulated, you'll arrive to a de-facto state of death...and you've probably experienced it several times before.

When in deep sleep [in a state where you're not dreaming], do you exist? This is basically what death feels like [or rather doesn't feel]. Understanding this, you'll know that death is an old friend and a preserver of sanity. Nocturnal heavens are the realm of death and there's nothing to fear about them for you won't exist when they arrive at your doorstep.
 
The fear does strike me from time to time between hazy moments of self-medication with mystery machine levels of cannabis (which I'm not proud of before you flame me, I'm just an anxiety ridden stoner fag), although I'm convinced the best way to become accepting of death is to familiarize yourself with it. Exposure therapy. I constantly watch videos of people talking about what it's like to receive a terminal diagnosis, stop to observe vigils for dead motorcyclists on my walk to the grocery store, pay attention to older people in my life reflecting on the end, etc...

In 2020 I did an archival project for my college where I went through the journals of a very philosophical and creative gay man who had been diagnosed with AIDS in 1990, briefly after his third time ever having sex. I've dealt with loss of family members before but this was the first time I really noticed the gravity of death in a way beyond simple unproductive existential anxiety. I would recommend reading writings from creatives you respect who are facing death.

I'm not religious but I also take solace in U.S.-Mexico border ghetto ass spiritual practice based around Santa Muerte (Saint Death in English), she's a raunchy goddess of death that loves drinking, gossip, and cigars. In times of my life where I've been flirting with death and delusion by abusing drugs I've always found it comforting to have a friendly personification of death. However I haven't been able to feel as "in touch" with any of the statues I bought at the time since I've gotten sober. Call it religious awakening or drug addict retardation, but it's definitely something I look back on as having helped me through a brush with death.

Ultimately everything starts to fall apart from the moment it is created, but I definitely find solace in familiarizing myself with the experiences of the end. You technically win every battle you wage until your zenith of struggle, and that will kill you. The goal is to make the battle as easy as possible and to do enough and know enough throughout your life to wave the white flag when it's comfortable for you.
 
Death and it's inevitability is what defines living.

People are rarely scared of death. What they're scared of is the world continuing to exist without them in it.
 
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there really is nothing to fear really, is normal for the living being to fear his own death, but remember that death is the end of experiences, so try to imagine going to bed and never coming back
I do fear death, and i'm also sure that I know exactly what will happen after we kick the bucket, that's why you need to remember, life is a gift, almost like being brought to a game, and is our job to make sure everyone gets the taste of a good life
 
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OinGO! said:
there really is nothing to fear really, is normal for the living being to fear his own death, but remember that death is the end of experiences, so try to imagine going to bed and never coming back
I do fear death, and i'm also sure that I know exactly what will happen after we kick the bucket, that's why you need to remember, life is a gift, almost like being brought to a game, and is our job to make sure everyone gets the taste of a good life
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That piece of music was the slice of sunshine I didn't know was missing from my evening. Thank you <3
 
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I don't fear death because it will be a release from my vices and freedom from my desire. My wants weigh heavily upon my conscience, and I long to be free of such worldly things.
 
MoffAlbert said:
I don't fear death because it will be a release from my vices and freedom from my desire. My wants weigh heavily upon my conscience, and I long to be free of such worldly things.
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So you want to die because you can’t stop partying? Or is this some sort of religious trauma/guilt thing?
 
Hennessy Williams said:
So you want to die because you can’t stop partying? Or is this some sort of religious trauma/guilt thing?
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I'm not really suicidal or deathly ill or anything, it's more like I've made peace with the fact I'll die some day, and it will be a weight off the people surrounding me's shoulders. It is mostly a guilt thing, I guess? I feel like I demand too much of the people around me and don't necessarily want to trouble them. I dunno, maybe I'm just thinking too hard about things. I have a tendency to overthink things.
 
Honestly I think about what it would be like, or required, in order to live forever in this flesh sack and it becomes very obvious very quickly death is a mercy. Setting aside the metaphysical, the social catastrophe that would occur if people could live forever would be enormous.

Imagine eternally alive Nancy Pelosis for example. A gerontaucracy would set in very quickly leading to violent revolt by younger people who find the paths to success and power barred by the people who got there first.

Then of course there is the soul crushing weight of memory. Eventually you would find yourself a stranger in time, and just unable to cope. Weighed down by a lifetime of memories and past traumas. I think suicide would start to seem attractive in that scenario.

We are not meant to live forever. I believe something is waiting on the other side. But even if I did not not I would not want to live forever. That would be a cursed existence devoid of meaning and steeped in suffering.
 
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