To ask if you are not scared of death - what is your reason?

[Vilanelle]

For me, I am petrified of the idea. I wouldn't say it consumes me but if I do think about it, a wave of panic goes through me.

Do you think it is like birth - you don't know about it?

I had a dream last night that I was in a car accident and it felt like I could feel the life drawing out of me.

I can't wrap my head around the thought of not having any thoughts and just being nothing.

I would like to become more at peace with the though of dying, after all no one is getting out of here alive!

Tell me about your thoughts on death?

I worry about the kind of world my children and grandchildren will inhabit when I'm no longer here to help them. The thought of an uncaring harsh world that they will have to face worries me.

I used to think of death and be petrified of the idea.

When I was diagnosed with cancer death didnt cross my mind untl I was told the cancer had spread.......then I wasnt scared,I just thought at least I know how I am going to die and felt quite calm about it.

I got the all clear from cancer and am still well four years later......so I get to wondering again how it will all end

Being dead is like being stupid.....you don't know about it, but it's painful for those around you.

Death doesn't bother me.

Living with something like dementia or an illness that means I live with incontinence or needing 24/7 care terrifies me though.

I'm terrified of knowing I'm going to die before it happens.

And of dying whilst my DC are still young.

I used to be consumed with fear about being dead, but not so much now as I think about it similar to pp, fear is an emotion for life and when I'm dead I'll be oblivious to it.

Sometimes I wish I had a religion though as I think it must be really comforting.

I'm more scared of my loved ones dying than of dying myself. However I feel incredibly sad at the thought of death, more than exactly scared. Having said that, if I fell off a cliff and the ground was speeding towards me then terror is exactly what I would feel if death was imminent.

I find it comforting to think of the world continuing after I'm gone, birds will still sing, sun will still shine, flowers will still grow - the things that I love and care about will still go on.

I'm more afraid of poverty in old age than I am of actual death. And I'm afraid of my death being a burden to my DD, all of that sorting out to do when I'm gone. And also fearful of how she would cope emotionally. For me that is the scariest bit.

I'm not scared of death because it's a long(ish) way away. As it gets closer, I think my fear levels will rise.

Most people probably just don't think about it most of the time. The fact that you are thinking about it, could that mean you are experiencing anxiety?

I fear bereavement ...the loss of a loved one but I do not fear death

Although I'd like my death to be as peaceful and painless as possible, I'd still choose to know I was dying and have time to say my goodbyes, even if that comes with pain. I fear dying in a road accident or suddenly of something, a life just cut short with so many unfinished threads.

I don't mind the idea of being dead at all, as long as the process isn't unpleasant or painful.

I'm not religious, and I'm perfectly happy with the idea that my body will break down into atoms which will eventually become part of another person, plant, animal, butterfly or whatever.

I'm not quite ready to go just yet, though

I am scared of death and of dying. I try to read the Stoics to come to terms with it.

I have very mixed feelings about dying.
I was with my husband when he was told he was dying and probably only had to 3 months left. I was with him every day, saw his fear of what was happening and the gradual increase of the pain he was going through. His death was a release from this pain but none of this going gently into the night bollocks. Even in tremendous pain he fought to stay with us as long as possible.
Now when my time comes I hope that he is there waiting for me so I don’t fear the death part as either I will be back with my husband or I will be nothing and if I am nothing I won’t know exist in any form so won’t know about it.
I do fear the possibility of a painful death or being given a terminal diagnosis and then the wait to die.

I am not afraid of death. If it's time to leave it is time to leave.

But then again my whole life has been one massive shithole so I don't think that dying and whatever happens when you die is worse than what I've already been through.

I don't think death itself scares me. I am scared of it being painful. I do wonder where the energy within you goes, but it doesn't worry me.

Sounds really silly, but a couple of years ago I was very ill with a burst ovarian cyst and genuinely thought I would die (I was being melodramatic tbh there was no danger of my dying at all) but I basically just drifted off to sleep and felt remarkably calm when I laid there and thought "ok, if this is death then fine" since then I've not been worried.

I don't fear it any more, I worked in a children's hospice for a while and it no longer scares me. I do worry about how my (adult) children will feel though as I know how much I miss my own dad.

My mum died suddenly when I was 8. I have been terrified of dying since then.

But, I don't think it's dying I'm afraid of. I'm afraid of not existing anymore. I love existing! I love life.

I avoid thinking about it too much because it freaks me out completely

I've told my DH my fear and he says that one way to approach it day by day is to live life the best way you can. So I do.

Im also scared of being forgotten (as I have forgotten my Mum).

Everything has its time on earth. One day mine will end. I want to leave enough love behind to keep me in mind for a while.

Energy never dies, never ends, so my earthly energy will become something else.

I'd so love to see the future though. I want to see where humanity ends up.

I love science fiction (as name suggests!) with Star Trek and Dr Who being firm favourites (though both freak my fear out sometimes)

I hardly ever think about it so I can probably say that I'm not afraid of it. It's more like it's an irrelevance at the moment.

I'm not scared of death, but I don't want to rush into it. I'd like not to die in pain but know there are many miserable ways to go.

I'm fucking terrified of the idea of losing my children and having to go on without them. DH and I discussed that once and I suggested that if something dreadful happened that would be a game changer for our whole lives, and I'd probably want to go somewhere grim in the world and try to help other children. I'd certainly not be wandering around doing my day to day life here. He was glad there was a plan.

If I found out I was going to die soon I'd be in a terrible state but only because I'm too young, have children to raise etc. I'm not actually scared of death as a concept. To me it's like being scared of the time before you existed. It's not scary that there were millions of years before you were born so why should it scary to think there'll be another time when you don't exist. I'm MUCH more scared to think of getting something like dementia or motor neurone disease. I have had cancer and spent many months thinking of death, staring it in the face. I came to the conclusion that death isn't scary but the prospect of leaving my children when they were young was absolutely horrific and unacceptable.

I've faced death three times in the last three years. All included stays in ICU, twice on life support. If I'm lucky I'll have 15 years. Death holds no fear it's just the hurt that will be left behind for my family and friends and the difficulties it will bring to their lives.

“I do not fear death. I had been dead for billions and billions of years before I was born, and had not suffered the slightest inconvenience from it”

I can't stand this quote. Every time a thread about the fear of dying comes up someone trots this out as if it's the most inspirational saying ever. It's not, it's smug bollocks.

I'm scared of the actual dying, and the possibility of a long lingering illness beforehand.

I'm 70 now so death is becoming more of a reality for me, and given that I come from a family of people have who mostly died in their 70s it feels like it can't be long for me. I try to keep myself as fit and healthy as possible but then most of my family were pretty healthy looking on the outside, it's what's going on on the inside that's the problem.

One thing that does bother me about dying is that I know one of my DDs particularly is going to be really badly affected by my death - we're very close - and I feel awful about that.

I find the idea of not being here, of ceasing to exist, really sad. I don't want to stop living.

I have always had a fear of dying, but more so young while I’m raising my children.
But I would rather go before they do.
My parents are early 60’s now and my mum has a lot of health problems, so the thought of them dying fills me with so much heartache already

I'm not afraid of dying, I've had huge fun and a great life so far and while I'm happy to carry on in the same vein for a few more decades, I don't feel there's anything I desperately want to do still. I've lost both parents (one when I was a child) and my sister died last year of a brain tumour but she had a "good death". So maybe that helps me.

But I don't have children which I guess makes a massive difference. I do find it incredibly sad that when I'm gone I will leave nothing significant behind but I try not to think about that (example: when DH and I got together, I was meticulous in labelling photos in albums. Now I don't even bother to print them as no one will want them.)

I have had a tragic, shitty life that never improves, so I'm not at all scared of death. I don't believe there is anything after this but well, you won't care because you'll be dead.