Does fear of death ever go away? (2023)

Does fear of death ever go away?

Does death anxiety go away? The good news is fear of death fades as a person ages. Men who experienced thanatophobia in their 20's usually overcome their fear and are less likely to feel dread towards the subject later on.

The literature reports that death anxiety peaks in middle age and decreases with increasing age, a finding supported by the author's study.

You're experiencing obsessive or intrusive thoughts.

Obsessive thoughts of death can come from anxiety as well as depression. They might include worrying that you or someone you love will die. These intrusive thoughts can start out as harmless passing thoughts, but we become fixated on them because they scare us.

"And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell."

One of the most helpful strategies for accepting death and resolving grief is to design a new life without the deceased. This doesn't mean pretending they were never a part of your life, but it does mean moving forward with your own as a way of honoring them and caring for yourself.

Death anxiety peaks in a person's 20s. It fades as they get older.

Why does fear of death decline with age?

“A lot of our fear of death is about losing the things we've built up,” says Steve Taylor, a lecturer in psychology at Leeds Beckett University in Leeds, England, and the author of Out of Darkness. “But elderly people let go of their attachment to these things, and in the process they let go of some of their fear.”

Fearing death also makes it harder for us to process grief. A recent study found that those who were afraid of death were more likely to have prolonged symptoms of grief after losing a loved one compared to those who had accepted death.

Fear of Pain and Suffering

Many people fear that when they meet death, they will experience excruciating pain and suffering. This fear is common in many healthy people, as well as in patients dying of cancer or other terminal illnesses.

Jules Howard explains why that might be a mistake. According to data from the company Statista, just 11 per cent of us consider death in our daily lives. Most of us are clearly busy with the subject of life, perhaps only considering the subject three or four times a year.

Like most phobias, cardiophobia can be treated with approaches such as cognitive behavioral therapy and systematic desensitization. By learning to recognize the symptoms as they arise and disentangle them from your anxiety about your health, you may start to see an improvement both physically and psychologically.

Persons with cardiophobia focus attention on their heart when experiencing stress and arousal, perceive its function in a phobic manner, and continue to believe that they suffer from an organic heart problem despite repeated negative medical tests.

Although chest pain is common to both a panic attack and a heart attack, the characteristics of the pain often differ. During a panic attack, chest pain is usually sharp or stabbing and localized in the middle of the chest. Chest pain from a heart attack may resemble pressure or a squeezing sensation.

But Jesus came to free us from sin and from the threat of death. He gave up his own life for our sake, and then he rose from the dead, so “death has been swallowed up in victory” (1 Corinthians 15:54). Only the Lord can take away our fear of death.

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God." "When the righteous cry for help, the LORD hears and delivers them out of all their troubles." "For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control."

Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope.

How long does it take to accept death?

It's common for the grief process to take a year or longer. A grieving person must resolve the emotional and life changes that come with the death of a loved one. The pain may become less intense, but it's normal to feel emotionally involved with the deceased for many years.

Facial muscles may relax and the jaw can drop. Skin can become very pale. Breathing can alternate between loud rasping breaths and quiet breathing. Towards the end, dying people will often only breathe periodically, with an intake of breath followed by no breath for several seconds.

Often, we want more time with them — more joy, more laughter, more healing — and death makes those hopes impossible to fulfill. We remember our good times with the deceased, knowing that they are now over; memories can be crushing.