How to get more comfortable with death

[Celerity]

https://psyche.co/guides/how-to-deal-with-death-anxiety-with-the-help-of-cbt



Are you troubled by the thought that life is just too short? Would you feel deeply uncomfortable walking through a cemetery? Have you ever experienced a jolt of panic upon realising a celebrity has died? Does the thought of death itself often cause you significant distress?

If the answer to any of these questions is ‘yes’, you are not alone. Having negative feelings in response to thoughts and reminders of death is something all humans must grapple with from a young age – and it is more intense for some people than for others. The term ‘death anxiety’ is commonly used to refer to the negative emotions one might have about death. It includes anxious feelings, of course, but these might coexist with feelings of dread, sadness or anger.

Just as people’s emotions about death can vary, so too does the specific focus of those emotions. For example, some people might be worried about their own death, while others are far more concerned about the eventual death of a loved one. One person might fear the concept of non-existence, whereas another might be terrified that dying will be painful. All of these different responses to death can be considered examples of death anxiety.

The strong aversion to death has been wired into humans through millions of years of evolution, a way of helping to keep us safe and protect the species. As a result, it is normal to have some anxiety about the idea of death. You can think of death anxiety as existing on a spectrum, with very low anxiety at one end and very high anxiety at the other. Each of us will find ourselves sitting somewhere on this spectrum, and a number of things are predictive of where someone will sit. For example:

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