Scared to death? Knowledge that kills?

"Can one be scared to death? Yes," he said. "There is unequivocal evidence that one can be scared to death under certain and very specific circumstances."

abcnews.go.com...

Most people shake off the notion as ridiculous, however this neurologist says...

"I know this because I have cases of children with absolutely no heart disease who died on amusement-park rides," Samuels said.

"It would be like getting an enormous dose of speed or ecstasy," he said.

In extreme cases, it can cause sudden death.

I'd been thinking about this since finding out that elevated levels of stress can cause heart disease and heart attacks. Our society encourages people to push the limit. Horror movies, rides, extreme sports. Why is this? Also notice those who do not participate in them are considered 'wimps'. Rightfully so?

One step further, can merely knowing something frightening or shocking be enough to trigger this resposne?

Have you been so scared that you were almost certain you would die? How did it change/affect you?

There are other reasons why I'm bringing this up, but before going into them, I'm interested in hearing your response.

I grew up in a "haunted house" and had a few paranormal events a few years ago.

Yes, there were a few times I was so scared I literally thought I was going to die.

Originally posted by MauiStacey
I grew up in a "haunted house" and had a few paranormal events a few years ago.

Yes, there were a few times I was so scared I literally thought I was going to die.

STACY! Good to see you around. Now naturally you're gonna have to explain

What happened? How was it haunted? Did you feel like you'd 'aged' from the experience? Had any medical conditions you thought were related? Has your attitude towards frightening things changed? Did it affect your beliefs?

Good to see you too Saints! It's been a while.

When I was a little girl I had many paranormal events. I was only 4 or 5 when they started happening and I had no idea what it was.

I had an entity that would breath in my ears when I was laying in bed at night. Sometimes it would pull my hair or call my name from the closet. It would also open and close the closet doors. One time before we finally moved out it shoved me down the stairs.

You could feel where it was because the air become literally very cold with a deep sense of fear and foreboding. The air itself seemed thicker where it was. It mainly resided in the basement, but I could hear it come up the two flights of stairs and into my bedroom at night. I could hear literal foot steps and breathing!

It also bothered my Mom, but she never talked about it much.

When I was about 7 or 8 my Mom became deeply religious and the "events" got worse. She learned that telling it to leave in the name of Jesus would get it to go away for a while.

Whatever it was, it was attached to the house. We moved when I was 10 and all the hauntings stopped.

A few years ago a spirit started picking on me. I'm not sure why because I never dabbled in the occult. I do remember I was reading forums about ouiji baords. Which I never will again! lol.

Anyway, I was lying in bed one night and I could feel something stepping around my body. I could literally fell the bed indent where it was. It was also whispering in my ear in a very deep, menacing voice. Something about always loving me.

There were at least 3 entities there that I could feel. One night I had my leg hanging over the side of the bed and I could feel something like a feather boa being wrapped up the length of my leg. I was horrified!

Orbs of grey smokish type stuff would come dashing at me when I was in the kitchen or watching TV. Sometimes I would literally duck.

I prayed a lot for it to go away and left a Bible open to a page in Psalms and it stopped.

But yes, I have been so scared I thought my heart would beat out of my chest or stop beating.

It did not change my beleifs because I have always believed in God.

But I do want to say to people that don't believe, is that these dark entities (demons) do exist. I am not mental and I do not do drugs or drink. These things are real. If there is evil there has to be good and that is God Almighty.

When you are being attacked by a demon, all you need to do is call out His name or the name of Jesus and it will immediately stop.

(But you already knew this)

Crazy stuff Stacey! I came across this article today that was topically related as well:

Girl, 8, Reportedly Died After Developing Dentist Phobia

An 8-year-old girl became so fearful of going to the dentist that she passed away because she refused to even open her mouth to eat, her parents told the Daily Mail Wednesday.

Sophie Waller's phobia was so bad that she had to go to the hospital just to have a tooth removed, according to the report.

Doctors at Royal Cornwall Hospital in Truro, England, removed her baby teeth in a single surgery to avoid a repeat procedure, but afterwards she refused to open her mouth to eat and had to be fed through a tube, it is reported.

Following her release from the hospital, Sophie continued her refusal to eat, with the exception of some watermelon.

Her weight plummeted and health worsened until she was found dead in her bed by her mother a month later. Her parents, Janet and Richard Waller, have demanded to know why an inquest into Sophie's December 2005 death has yet to be held.

www.foxnews.com...

Apparently we do have reason to fear fear itself.

I guess it depends on the person. Some kids are frightened at the monster in the closet, others make friends with it.
Some people think of ghosts as a haunting, others see it as a blessing.
I think the way you perceive the situation determines the outcome.

I think if you think you can die from it, you might be a candidate, but if you see fear as an illusion created by the unknown, then you probably will never get that freaked out to the point of death.

When I was a kid, going on the roller coaster was very interesting because I saw the beginning, and I saw the end, and no one gets hurt or anything out of the ordinary on them, so I wondered why everyone was always screaming on them, and I realised its something you have to want, if you stay aware, its not scary, but if you just go with the moment and dont pay attention to reason, it can be scary.

Its just like playing with the ouiji or bloody mary, if your intension is that you are going to be scared, then things that scare you are going to manifest. If you play the games with understanding, the ouiji is never scary(nor is it a game) and bloody mary is only your Jungian shadow self.

I say this because ive been attacked by demons coming out of the ground tearing at my legs and devouring my body, it was painful and scary at first, and I thought they would kill me, and then I thought oh well its ok, kind of like whatever, and all of a sudden they disappeared as quickly as they appeared, and I had a sense that they only disappeared because I disappeared, I mean I was physically there, but the signature of ego that believed in demons disappeared along with them, and I realised it was just a manifestation of what I let live in my mind or soul or however you look at it.
I went from thinking I was going to be dead, to realizing life is whatever illusion you make it to be in seconds. It was nuts, but greatly liberating at the same time.
It changed my life drastically, in the sense that when I feel fear, I know its the universe saying, Hey, new information behind these doors! In reality, its not the same feeling as fear was before, fear used to seem hopeless, now fear seems like an opportunity and I wouldn't even call it fear anymore.

its a bit of a hard subject to split into ,being scared is also has a sense of shyness and unwilling to it,i dont think scared to death can just be one thought in the brain,i heard 2 sides of children being scared to go on rollercoasters and children being so exicted passing exams that they die both ways,the shock it seems is worse for the mind and body.

i know its a little complex but i cant imagine a squirrel getting himself in that frame of mind over a jump he has to make as these are natural things for him,but lets say you put mr squirrel on a rollercoaster to which the enviroment and feelings are alien to him then he might feel scared to death.

from a personal experience ive had 3 close to death experinces and 2 involve drowning,i cant swim except for maybe like 5 metres doggy paddling,when i was at school we went on a school trip over 3 days,on one of the days canoeing was the sport for the morning,playing tig with the paddles trying to hit each boat i swerved as to be not hit by a passing canoe,i capsized with my body twisted and my foot caught inside the canoe upside down,i was under to me what seemed like 3 minutes with my foot still caught,the instructors gave us a special shout to scream if your in trouble,that would do me no good,then suddenly i stoped panicking and felt calm under water as if i could breathe and calmly rolled round on myself so i could get my foot free and come up for air,people looked at me as if i was messing around under the water but i wasnt.

2nd one happend in Spain a few years ,i was just bouncing around in a swimming pool when the current was pushing me back,i didnt know the bottom of the pool had a slopeing step so before i knew i was underwater again,the only way i could get out was climb up the ladders from where i was,luckily for me the ladders was in the deep end.

3rd one happend when i was a kid ,it was very high winds,i was with some friends when i turned to go the other way,they then called me back so i decided to turn around and go with them,a huge tree fell in the path i was gonna go and would of surely hit me head on.

i dont believe in fate but it does raise questions about lifes choices predetermined paths that are put in front of you.

Yes, I believe people can die from fear.

What might not kill you at twenty, may well kill you at 60.

People have died of fear.

My fear may be your 'alarm'. My 'alarm' may by your fear.

What might kill you may not kill me and vice versa.

Fearful events which I've witnessed have included someone beating up a family before dousing the family's possessions in petrol and threatening to set fire to everyone there.

I've been kidnapped and victim of attempted strangulation.

I've been in a speeding vehicle driven by an enraged madman who threatened to drive the vehicle into this then that telegraph pole and to plunge the vehicle over the side of a high bridge.

I've seen a man smash in another man's head with a billiard ball.

I've separated two neighbours, one armed with a pitchfork and one with a spade.

I've been slashed, although my arm took the brunt and protected my face. Someone once swung a shovel behind his head, his intention being to behead me.

Only last week, I looked up from my computer, late at night, to find an unknown man standing just outside the front door, which was open. As I made my way towards the door, the prowler twice attempted to pull the insect screen door off and get inside. A week later, neighbours across the road were robbed in the middle of the day.

On each occasion (and there have been many more, just as frightening) I've suffered fear, and shock has set in afterwards. But I've recognised it as the normal response to extraordinary events. In other words, it's been manageable fear, although I suspect I suffer post-traumatic shock syndrome to a degree, primarily as result of the many fear-causing events which occurred in childhood.

There have been occasions however -- relating to paranormal events -- when the fear generated has not been manageable. On one such occasion, the fear was so intense, it almost unhinged me.

On some occasions, I've left my body. Didn't realise it at the time. Only afterwards, when remembering the fearsome situation did I realise I'd experienced it from two locations: one, from the normal perspective of being in my body, and the other from a position above my body. It doesn't always work, for some reason, as with the the most fear-creating paranormal event mentioned above. On that occasion, I was compelled to experience it 'straight' (not out of body). I was much younger when it occurred. I suspect were I to be subjected to the experience today, it may well kill me.

What kills one person may have little to no effect on another. There are people, quite a few, apparently, who're able to kill another or several others, after which they proceed with their lives. There are those who actually enjoy other's suffering, such as those who torture and kill total strangers during 'war' and are so distanced from other's pain that they can laughingly photograph it.

People with a weak heart can die from an amusement park ride that causes giggles and just a bit of nervous flutter in others. We're all different.

Fear is the dark veil of truth. It is necessary to face ones fears, or the truth will never be revealed.

Some very interesting points as well as testimonies of survival. I especially liked the approach of 'what may be for one may not for another'. In that way its like our immune system. During the european bubonic plague, there were people who were simply unaffected, while others quickly succumbed. It's easy when being a survivor to say it's a filter for the 'weak' even though we have no say in the matter.

The questions that then come are:

Is fear necessary?

Is it beneficial or harmful?

When realization of death occurs, have we chose it or has it chosen us?

Do you believe there were people who discovered a big, important truth and were overwhelmed to the point of death?

I think the classic example, although it very well could be an urban legend, is how if you were to fall off a cliff or a building that you would most likely die before you hit the ground, simply from the fear of your impending doom.

Another example is how people who go in for a health check up and find out that they have something like pancreatic cancer and the Dr only gives them X ammount of time to live. Then they usually die pretty close to that time frame. I honestly think that since they received the knowledge of their disease and a timeline associated to their death, that they give up. I think in many cases, if they weren't given the timeline, or if the doctor said they had years left, then they would in fact live longer. Just my opinion though.