Scared to Death?

A recent incident caused me to wonder...Can one really die from fear? I expressed in another thread today how I had a panic attack on an airplane. It was tremendous, I got dizzy and felt as though I would black out. They expressed to me that they had oxygen ready for me. I declined because I just wanted to freaking pass out. My fear of heights have dramatically increased but I just came from Orlando where I visited the parks. I purposely go on high amusement rides to knock down this fear that just gets worse over time. After I force myself to do this self therapy in a controlled environment, it helps. Its aweful at the time, I shake and sweat, but it works to keep the fear at a reasonable level. Confrontation.
But what happened in that plane was terrifying...I had chest pain and numbness...I freaked out.


"The real life event they choose is connected to a Chinese and Japanese superstition. In Mandarin, Cantonese, and Japanese, the words "death" and "four" are pronounced nearly identically, and consequently the number "four" evokes discomfort and apprehension in many Chinese and Japanese people. Because of this, the number "four" is avoided and omitted in some Chinese and Japanese floor and room numberings, restaurants, and telephone numbers. In addition, the mainland Chinese air force avoids the number "four" in designating its military aircraft, apparently because of the superstitious association between "four" and "death."

The study by Phillips and his co-authors finds that cardiac deaths peak on the fourth of the month for Americans of Chinese and Japanese descent, and that this pattern is not seen among whites. The study used computerized U.S. death certificates to examine more than 200,000 Chinese and Japanese deaths, and 47,000,000 white deaths, from 1973 to 1998. ...."
Scared to death..More than just an expression
www.eurekalert.org...



Kristine

one could have heart attack as a result of fear.

but one could also theoretically have a heart attack from laughing too hard.

or an aneurysm from sneezing.

scared to death, while being both an expression, and an actual cause of death, just happens to be the phrase that caught on.

Originally posted by xxKrisxx
A recent incident caused me to wonder...Can one really die from fear?

You are not alone. I have a great fear of heights too. Most of my bad dreams consist of me standing on the top of a cliff or on the roof of a very tall building. I get goosebumps just even thinking about looking down of a height. However i don't fear it to death.

Btw, do you specifically have fear of airplanes or heights in general?

Are you sure it was your fear of heights/airplane that caused the panic attack, any other source possible?

You could die from such fears but ONLY if you are a really weak person! Get yourself together and fight it!