How I Overcame My Phobia of Death

#2 How I Overcame My Phobia of Death

[Introduction]

This text is intended for people who want to alleviate their death phobia right now.

It is written by an author who has suffered from death phobia in the past, with the intention of delivering it to those who are suffering from it now.

I have also explained what symptoms I suffered from in the past and how I overcame my fear of death in my previous work, “How I Overcame My Phobia of Death #2”.

I would be happy if you could read that as well.

The reason I'm writing this as a sequel is because I came up with a few additional things that might help you overcome your fear of death.

In fact, when I was rereading the previous article, I sometimes felt that I hadn't written about that method, or that this method might work better for some people.

So this time, I'd like to write again about the methods to prevent death phobia that I couldn't introduce last time.

The last article was more of a “how to change your way of thinking” article, and this article is more of a “how to change your daily life” article.

The effects vary from person to person, so there may be times when you say, “This worked for me, but that didn't work for me at all.”

Even if the methods described here don't work for you right away, please read my previous works.

I hope you will find at least one way to make your life easier.

[To consider that human emotions and values change easily]

Human beings are surprisingly quick to change.

It is natural that our moods can change in a short period of time as a result of some event, but it is also common for our personality to change over a long period of time, as if we were a different person.

Even if you don't want to change, you can't help but change.

I myself never thought I would be able to change so much in a few years after suffering so much from a phobia of death, however my personality has changed a lot in other ways as well.

I was bullied in junior high school. It was just painful to be verbally abused by girls, and I was once ranked as the most disliked boy in my class.

Can you guess what happened to me after a year of being bullied like that?

When the new school term began, I was no longer bullied in my new class.

Surprisingly, everything in my school life had changed so suddenly.

This is mostly because the girls who bullied me were no longer in the same classroom.

From this time, I was able to talk to girls normally.

There was even a time when I had a girlfriend.

In this way, people's personalities, values, and surroundings can easily change. You never know what life has in store for you.

For example, if you are currently suffering from a phobia of death and wondering if you will have to live with it for the rest of your life, it may be resolved in a few years or even a few days.

The fear of death is the worst thing that can happen to a human being.

So if you were able to change, death may become less scary than it is now, but you will never become more afraid of it.

I don't know what the trigger is.

It could be an experience of finding some books, or meeting someone wonderful.

It could be a trigger that you want, or it could be a trigger that someone unexpectedly gives you.

But no one stays the same forever.

What about yourself?

For example, do you think that you are still playing the same games that you play now?

I don't think many people do.

To a greater or lesser extent, people change in unpredictable ways.

So even if you are thinking now, “I don't want to suffer from death-phobia for the rest of my life”, you really don't know what the future holds.

Even if you are determined to think that “I'd rather spend the rest of my life being death-phobic! My personality will never change!”, it will be more difficult to do so.

Even if you don't want to change, you will change.

So don't worry. The probability that you will be haunted by the fear of death forever is very low.

It may be tomorrow or next year that you will change a lot.

In fact, most death-phobics are as good as solved the moment they decide to get up the courage to go to a hospital.

Perhaps the moment you came across this article was the right time for you to change.

[To try to change your daily life]

I used to believe that my fear of death was a mental condition and had nothing to do with my physical body.

Sometimes I even thought that it was a punishment from God, or that there was something wrong with my soul or the structure of this world.

As a result, I thought that the only way to overcome my phobia of death was to solve the spiritual cause.

This might happen to everyone.

When we think of the enormous and endless suffering of death, we tend to attribute it to the soul or God or something like that.

When that happens, we may say, “You can't cure the soul even if you go to a hospital! Don't think that humans can cure God's punishment!” I was like that.

But in reality, the human body is much simpler.

The human mind is more easily influenced by the body than we think.

Cold, heat, hunger, lack of sleep, tooth decay, headache, stuffy nose, tired eyes, low air pressure, etc...

The combination of just one or two of these factors can cause the human mind to become unbelievably negative.

And even if you are negative due to these factors, you tend to think, “No, just improving my physical condition won't make much difference to my mental health.”

But that's not true.

When you feel anxious for no reason at all, or when you are more afraid of death than usual, you may be carrying some kind of physical disorder without realizing it.

When you feel “Oh my God, I'm so scared of dying”, you can improve a lot by suspecting that your physical condition is the cause and taking countermeasures.

Try turning on the heater, eating a full meal, taking a bath, or watching a comedy show.

That alone can change your thinking incredibly.

I myself sometimes didn't eat a full meal because I was worried about gaining weight, or turned down the heat because I was worried about the electricity bill.

But then I started to think that “I can't worry about gaining weight or the electricity bill when I'm suffering from death-phobia! I'm going to do whatever I want!”

There were several times when I felt relieved.

Of course, obesity and binge eating are bad, but negative emotions are more likely to be a sign from your body that you are not feeling well.

Don't think that it has nothing to do with death-phobia, but please try to suspect that you are not feeling well.

Even if the fear doesn't disappear completely, it can be alleviated somewhat.

[To try listening to the radio when you go to bed]

I have the impression that many people are most bothered by the fear of death before going to bed.

While I was awake, I could focus on my studies, work or housework, but when I was in a dark room with no sound before going to bed, I suddenly felt anxious.

In such cases, I would listen to internet radio in bed until I fell asleep.

The content could be anything, but what I often listened to was the radio of voice actors or comedians.

I felt relieved to hear a human voice when I went to sleep. It is also a good idea to leave the TV on and use the timer function to turn it off automatically.

[To try a cuddle pillow]

This is a strategy to change the environment in which you sleep.

Humans can relieve a lot of stress by hugging something.

This is of course true for the stress of death phobia as well.

There are many types of cuddle pillows, but I personally found that using a large size pillow made me feel more secure, as if I was actually sleeping with someone.

If you look on the Internet, you can buy a large size pillow for 20$ to 30$.

You may be thinking “I'm embarrassed to be sleeping with a cuddle pillow.”

These days, cuddle pillows are becoming more and more common, and even adult men are using them to get a good night's sleep.

There is no need to be embarrassed about it, and once you get hooked, you can't stop.

In any case, if you are interested, you should give it a try.

[To try to tell people how to alleviate your fear of death / how you suffer from it]

Lastly, this is exactly what I am doing right now.

There are examples of how clarifying your experiences in writing can help you objectify your emotions and can be used to resolve trauma.

All you have to do is write down your problems. You don't even need to think of a solution.

Just writing down the symptoms you are suffering from and the thoughts that get you into trouble may help you to calm down.

Even if you don't, you can make a note of the ways in which you have been able to ease yourself, so that you can read it and refer to it later when the anxiety overwhelms you and you start to panic.

In this way, you may discover something unexpected if you write it down with the intention of sharing it with someone else.

You may even find that posting your methods somewhere will dramatically improve the symptoms of those who see them.

You are not the only one who suffers from a phobia of death.

Some people have a temporary problem with a small trigger, while others have a long-term problem.

Some people just need to go to a hospital to solve their problems, but they don't have the courage to do so.

However, I consider these people as my friends, and I want to help them feel better in any way I can.

Will you help me to reduce the number of people suffering from death phobia?