Death. Are You Afraid?

Drowning, burnt alive, torture. With these possibilities I would have to say I would fear more the means of death. Also, the few priceless things I would be leaving behind.

It is something we will undoubtedly think about, some times more than others. Personally I have had many times when I have felt I was going to die soon. A sort of overwhelming panicky anxious feeling, usually after reading ATS. I stopped having these feelings after too many predictions didn't come true, and now the feeling is just a general daily pressure of doom.

Tick tock.

[edit on 17/1/2008 by Nyorai]

For the most part I don't fear death. The only means of death I realy fear would be torture, becuse you don't know when the pain will end. I HATE pain lol it hurts. The unnatural method of death that I would rather have happen to me would be freezing to death, you just kinda fall asleep.

Afraid, no, maybe apprehensive about the transition from one state to the other. I would sure want it to be as quick and painless as possible, it makes me wonder why doctors are forbidden from assisting someone that has no hope.
A death row prisoner gets to die with less pain than a little old lady with cancer.:shk:

I firmly believe that I have lived before and feel that after this body has decayed beyond usefulness it will die and I'll start over again.

lol I don't fear death in any way shape of form...not even a little. Click my sig to find out why I feel this way. It's just a liberation of the soul and if you've done things right a beautiful reunion.

yes....
matter of fact it is about the only thing i am afraid of.
not the means but the actual death part......scares me to , well, death

I don't fear death, as in the process of death / dying.

I fear not existing anymore. I truely cannot fathom not being on this earth, around my family and friends, living my life.

It's not the dieing or death that frightens me...

It's LIVING then dieing and having no one care.

"I intend to live forever; so far so good!" Steven Wright

[edit on 17-1-2008 by whaaa]

Thing I'm worried about is dieing for no reason.. (or trapped in a submarine ~ no one will get me into a sub without breaking both my arms and legs!)

nope. i don't fear death. death is easy. it's an end... you stop doing stuff there. life is what i fear.
death is the rest after the struggle.

No. In fact, I can't wait till I die.
I'd like to be diagnosed with cancer so I could have a general date when I would die.
Death is the end of one journey and the beginning of another.

I'm one of those people that leaves home quite often, and remembers later that I left the water running, or the oven on, or my curling iron set to high in the bathroom.

I only have a fear, that I will spend eternity trying get a hold of one of my kids to go turn off whatever it is I've left on!

Whenever I think about death, I try to comprehend what it would be like if there is nothing after(I believe there is something after)and the idea of just not existing really freaks me out.

Nah! I'm not afraid of death. It's the dying process that I'm more concerned about -- either slow and agonizing or more like a peaceful sleep. For me, death is a release from this world and everything else I would hold dear -- family, friends, my computer, etc... Hopefully, when and if I awake from my 'death', my former reality would be but a dream. But before my 'death', I would like to do my best to make sure that living in this form was worth the wait.

reply to post by Nyorai


I used to have severe panic attacks and they are no fun. It's not easy, but you can get a handle on them, to some extent. I used to take high doses of meds, which was not the answer in my case, for it just led me down a path of even more extreme problems.

I grew up in Ohio and it started with being afraid of storms, especially tornados. I was seven and lived in Columbus when Xenia was leveled by one. When tornado warnings would go off, my dad would go with me to the basement so I felt better. At elementry school my classes were on a second story, and when the sirens would go off, the school would turn on their own alarm system, which was so loud and disturbing. I would cry until I couldn't breathe. This same school I attended was across the street from the largest military depo (by railway) in the U.S.. If you realize this was the early 70's, the Cold War was well underway and we had nuclear drills that were called "Duck & Cover." I remember hearing adults talk and them saying that this base was like number five on the U.S.S.R.'s hit list. Between fire, tornado & duck/cover drills - I was a mess.

That is how my problem started. From there I had a fear of driving in the city. I had to take back roads, whenever possible because a highway led to hyperventilation. From being a child of the cold war, the build up of troops in both Operation Desert Shield and Storm made my heart feel as if it was going to come out of my chest. I no longer have FOX News but their 'breaking news' alarm would bring one on and it seemed like they had alarming news daily. The last panic attack I had was on 911. I woke up to it and I was a mess.

The final frontier is death. Our minds know it is a process we all have to go through, but like you said, we become very attached to our spouse, our kids, our pets & the scenery. We don't want to be seperated from all we are and all we've known.

I'm scared too, but I believe in an afterlife. Don't get alarmed just from reading things. Most things never come to pass. My way of measuring how bad something really is - if ABC, NBC, & CBS (the main networks) are not breaking into their shows to report something, it's probably not that big of a deal.






[edit on 17-1-2008 by Myrtales Instinct]

I'm no longer afraid of death 'cause of some weird stuff I've seen in my lifetime .... I'll just leave it ike that ..... don't want any debate :shk:

Yeah i am afraid of death. Terrified in fact. Not because i will be dead, i believe in life after death OR re-incarnation.

What i am afraid of is missing out on something. Yeah, it may be better next time round or i may become an angel BUT i am afraid of missing out of life and the dream of owning a Ferarri and if i live long enough i am SURE i could afford one. Yeah i guess i am afraid of dying for the very reason i mentioned.

I am afraid of missing out on my daugher's life and i won't always be there to protect her. Yeah i can't always protect her but i am her daddy and i care about her and what happens to her. I am her daddy - that's the bottom line and if i didn't care i wouldn't be worth squat .

I am afraid of everything just going on without me. Imagine, and this isn't being conceited or anything but isn't it scary that one day you are laying on a bed preparing for your final breath and outside are a few kids playing catch and getting ready to go watch a new movie etc... life goes on, yes it does, and that's cool, but i want to be there tooooo!!

[edit on 18/1/2008 by shearder]

i'm not afraid of death and if my life goes to hell then i'll use

Vicadin!!!

the only death im afraid of is death by castration gone wrong

Originally posted by jtb2008
No. In fact, I can't wait till I die.
I'd like to be diagnosed with cancer so I could have a general date when I would die.
Death is the end of one journey and the beginning of another.

i can not even fathom wanting this....
i had a scare about a year ago where i had some abnornal liver functions and i had to get tested for possible liver cancer. of course it took 8 days to get my results back and the whole time i was geeking out.

i have a paranoia that i am going to get diagnosed with some sort of cancer. i turn 30 in march and i feel like by the time i am 40 i will have a diagnosis.

i have been taking vicodin and other meds on the regular for 12 years now. that is jacking my liver up. so there is that worry.

i fear death cause i don't believe there is anything after death. there is non existence and i can not comprehend that and it scares me.

also, i have a beautiful wife and i do not want to leave her here without me. we are each others rock.
i wish her and i could live to a ripe old age of 90, lie down in bed together for a nap, hold each other and just never wake up.....

honestly though, the only part of death i 'wish' about is that i die before my wife(save for what i just said) and my son....i am not strong enough mentally to handle that and i think i would wind up killing myself cause hey, whats there to live for then.

reply to post by Boondock78

After reading "No Death, No Fear" by Thich Nhat Hanh, I am no longer afraid to die. The book really changed my viewpoint on life, probably the first time I've said that.

"Our greatest fear is that when we die we will become nothing. Many of us believe that our entire existence is only a life span beginning the moment we are born or concieved and ending the moment we die... The Buddha has a very different understanding of our existence. It is the understanding that birth and death are notions. They are not real... When we understand we cannot be destroyed, we are liberated from fear." Exerpt from "No Death, No Fear."

This book has changed my viewpoint on life and death. I would suggest reading it if you have an open mind, Boondock. It may help with some of the things going on in your life.

As for my wanting to be diagnosed with cancer, that just seems like the most "humane" way to die. Burning to death, or drowning would suck.

[edit on 18-1-2008 by jtb2008]