Fear of Death – Necrophobia or Thanatophobia
The fear of death seems to creep in once we begin to age and realise
that we are no longer the immortal and invincible “I live forever” beings that we thought we were in our youth and early adulthood.
What is Necrophobia?
Necrophobia or Thanatophobia is the fear of death or things that have died such as animals, birds, insects, fish and so on, or may be the fear of people who have died. These fears may begin at a young age.
Imagine as a little child seeing Grandma or Grandpa who has died and is laid out in a coffin, and having an older brother or sister or cousin who whispers to you, “if you look at her face you’ll die too!” and then running off to leave you to fend with your own fears.
This scary occasion may lay the seeds for fear of death, (but does not always do so) and particularly if there are a number of deaths that occur in a short space of time.
Typical Fearful Thoughts About Death
Most people are so unprepared for death, their own or anyone else’s and different fears may come to the surface, such as:
- Have I done enough to get me into heaven?
- I don’t believe in heaven so what will happen to me?
- Do I have a soul, and will it get stuck?
- If my beloved cat dies I will be all alone
- I feel so guilty because I said those horrible things to my mother, I’m sure I can’t be forgiven
- I don’t believe in heaven or hell, but what if there are such things? Have my beliefs made things worse for me?
What can you do about these fears?
If you are of a religious faith, find out how your faith approaches death and decide for yourself whether or not you agree or disagree with those teachings.
If you are a spiritualist (versus following religious doctrines) you may believe that your soul continues on after it leaves the physical body at the moment of death, and that you will move on to the next phase of your after-life.
Past life regression would seem to indicate that you will face a panel who is loving, forgiving, and keen for you to learn, and the panel may decide that you will go back to earth for another journey whereby you learn more, or you may separate from your subconscious and rejoin the light of God’s love.
Either way, from those who have reported their near-death experiences, the passing over is not something to be feared. Passing over is something that feels like being filled with love and light and very welcoming and wanted by the recipient. Something even that they relinquish with some sadness if their time to pass is not meant for them at that moment.
So, educate yourself, examine your beliefs. Are you frightened of losing control? Are you frightened of worms eating your body? Are you frightened of fire? None of those things will matter because your soul will not be in your body. Your body is just a skinbag, rather like a car with you as the driver. How well you drive your car now is very important so that you are healthy and happy.
If you are fearful of being left alone when your partner, or pet or child dies, then look for ways of builing connections within your community. I remember a story told to me about the late and great Milton Erickson who went to see someone because she did not want to live any more, and he suggested to her that leaving her African Violet collection to die would be such a waste when she was gone. He gently planted the suggestion that perhaps when a new baby was born (and she would know from the church she attended) she might like to take the parents a potted blooming violet. She spent the remainder of her life tending her violets and celebrating people’s lives with them. When she died, something like 2,000 people attended her funeral because she had impacted their life so greatly.
Another way of dealing with these fears is via hypnosis.
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Hypnosis may alleviate your subconscious mind of its imaginings so that you are able to view death as just part of the cycle of life. I am born, I live, I die.
I come into the world with nothing, I leave this world with nothing for I cannot take anything with me, and what happens in between does not define my self-worth. What I think of myself defines my self-worth to me. When I do my best to love and approve of myself, to take care of myself, to help others and be grateful, then I can hold my head up high, no matter what religion or spiritual beliefs I hold.
