THANATOPHOBIA (the fear of death)

Death anxiety often called Thanatophobia is not a disorder, it's natural and can be linked to other anxiety disorders like:

• Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).

• Hypochondriasis (illness anxiety disorders).

• Panic attacks.

In this article, we will take close look at Thanatophobia, to explore the symptoms, causes and treatment (rather say possible ways to overcome it).

Having death anxiety is entirely a normal part of the human condition. When a person experience persistent fears like

• Fear of dealing with a loss.

• Fear of leaving loved ones behind.

• Fear of separation.

And these fears interfere with one's daily life, activities and relationships, it's known as "Thanatophobia" and it must persist for more than 6months for it to be called so.

SYMPTOMS

The key symptoms that a person may have Thanatophobia includes:

1. General feeling of depression or anxiety.

2. Feeling sick or having stomach pain when thinking about death.

3. Avoiding of situations where thinking about death may be necessary.

4. Feeling uncomfortable when people talk about death.

5. Immediate fear or anxiety when the thought of dying comes.

6. Panic attacks that causes sweating, dizziness and raised heart rate.

If death anxiety is linked to other anxiety or depression condition, a person could also experience symptoms related to the underlying conditions.

CAUSES

Phobia like this could be triggered by a specific event in a person's past. This could include an early event related to almost dying or the death of a loved one.

The cause may differ, depending on individual factors. These includes:

• Age: due to studies, is was suggested that older adults fear the dying process, while young people fear death itself.

• Sex: women are more likely than men to fear the death of loved ones and the cause of their death.

Thanatophobia may be linked to:

• Specific phobias

• Panic disorders

• Illness anxiety disorders

HOW CAN YOU OVERCOME IT?

In order to become comfortable with the unknown end of life you must be able to understand and overcome your phobia.

We're going to be looking at "Understand and Overcoming your phobia" in two parts.

Part One (understand your phobia)

1. Write down the time is when you have the thought of death.

2. Compare your anxieties with the thought of death.

3. Be honest to yourself at all thought.

Part Two (Overcoming your phobia)

1. Focus your energy on what you can control.

2. Eliminate unproductive thought patterns.

3. Plan for everyday. I wrote out an article on this. Check it out here

1. Challenge your mind. You can also check out my article on "see challenges as Opportunities" here

1. Live your life to the fullest.

2. Spend quality time with loved ones

1. Take care of yourself. This removes some risk factors that can lead to death.

When next you feel the fear of death, I want you to remember that it's perfectly normal to fear death, many people do.

There's this quote about life I fell in love with and I want to share it

"You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough" - Mae West

Thanks guys for reading...

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It's your guy Eviziim, $alute!