Death - do you fear it?

[DarthVader]

I think our society sidelines death and that we should discuss it more.

So, does it scare you?

Yes, a cold sweat kind of fear whenever I think about it.

no, not at all.

death doesn't - illness and leaving my family do.

jinglyjen do you have a strong religion that makes you feel this way out of interest?

My grandmother died recently and the act of dying TERRIFIED her. It has made me think.

my death scares me but the deth of my children or dh scares me more.

some time ago an elderly man i knew was dying from terminal cancer i asked him was he afraid? im afraid of how i will die he explained but not of the woonderful journey and adventure that death is -in fact i almost feel excited to be going rather like anticipating my holiday......after his death i found out he was retired vicar.

I am only scared of the fact that i don't know what happens once you die, not knowing, also of leaving my family behind.

My nan (81) says a similar thing, it is not dying that scares her, but she is scared of not knowing what will cause her death.

yes it terrifies me.

It scares me shitless; both of the actual physical act of dying, and then the oblivion that comes afterwards. I can't get my head around the fact that I won't be any more, that my consciousness will be snuffed out. I know I didn't exist before my birth, but the thought of not existing after my death is worse, but I can't explain why.

It makes lessons where we look at death in RE interesting though, as the students seem to like the fact that I'm as terrified as they are!

when I almost drowned as a kid it wasn't that bad, which gives me hope

No, not in the least. I would be scared of not being able to say goodbye to loved ones, but not death at all.

It is the loneliness of the moment of death that scares me, and the possibility that I may be wrong believing there will be someone at the other side.

I think it depends how you go.

I have seen several people exsanguinate.Not nice.

Ditto a long drawn out death if the individual is very unsettled at the end,despite all manner of interventions.

I would prefer to die rapidly I.E aneurysm,massive heart attack or in my sleep being the best one.

I would never want people to resuscitate me if I had a debilitating illness.

I'm not religious but having performed last offices on several people I do kind of believe in the soul,or some kind of energy that goes somewhere...if that makes sense.

Maybe I am just being fanciful with that one!!

Scares the shit out of me. I feel sick if I think about it. So I try not to, and succeed most of the time. It's just occasionally at 4am it gets in there and spooks me.

Actually, I think having kids has made me obsess about slightly less. Which isn't really logical, is it?

I am scared of it, and try not to think about it too much.
I think I worry more now I have children, as I worry about leaving them.

I worry about how/when I'm going to die, but my faith in God is such that I don't fear what is to come (even if it makes me slightly nervous! )

No.

I do think Western society sidelines it and has made many people afraid, which is sad and rather pathetic considering everyone has to go through it.

Not remotely. I nearly died as a teenager, and it felt very peaceful, even though the actual circumstances weren't, iyswim. Once you get to that point, it all feels comfortingly inevitable.

Having said that, I would hate to die while the children are still young enough to need me, but I'm not afraid of it in principle.

I fear surviving my child and I worry about leaving her too young, otherwise not much point to it.
best use energy living

I drowned to the point of unconciousness at the age of 3 and it was the most peaceful memory I have - other than the feeling of going under general anaethetic.

It's such a strong memory, I even dream it now and again.

I have nearly drowned twice and both times were totally peaceful,I never once panicked.
I am very spiritual and have experienced many things that give me great faith in the afterlife, although there have been times that I did doubt and it did scare me,but not anymore.

Think you're right about death being almost hidden in western society. Other communities see death as being just a natural part of life and the rites of passage they take part in surrounding death are all a big part of the natural grieving process. Here people are expected to just get on with it and it is not talked about which imo makes grieving harder. I am scared of dying young because I have a chronic disease and have come close a couple of times, but my faith is such that I have a surety about what is next that gives me a sense of peace and also expectation.

It does scare me, especially the thought of being taken by something like cancer "before my time" and leaving my family behind.

TBH, I have only become scared of it since having ds. I never really used to think about it.

Kind of goes without saying that the thought of anything happenning to ds or dh are immeasurably worse.