My son is 7 and has been scared of death for a while now but recently he seems to be having more and moments where he really panics about it. It's not so much fear of losing people around him (we've not lost anyone close), it's about dying himself. He says he can't stop thinking about it and doesn't want to not exist anymore.
Today he started screaming and I ran in thinking something terrible had happened and he was just crying and saying he couldn't stop thinking about death. I hugged him and he started telling me that he'd been thinking about death and he just started screaming again and gripping his head.
I don't know how to help him, I've talked to him about it quite a lot and said that I don't know for definite what happens when we die but I think we just become part of the world in a different way. We're not religious and I don't want to lie and say I think we go to heaven.
He's a very intelligent, thoughtful kid and does tend to overthink things. I'm so sad for him though, it really takes over his mind when he starts thinking about it. Has anyone got any advice of how I can help him?