do you fear death/what happens after you die?

Question

i am so scared of death and what happens after you die. if i start to think about it i get short of breath and almost vomit. scares me lots.

what scares me is not knowing if you just die and thats it of if there is heaven, hell, rebirth.. etc. i'm a religious mess.

Answer 1

I think it's best if you try not to dwell on something of which you have absolutely no clue--that is--what happens AFTER. That "answer" is up for grabs depending on one's "beliefs." I don't even think about the "after" because that's an exercise in futility. I do, however, hope I get struck by a bolt of lightning or die of old age in my sleep! No one wants to "suffer" their death. If it gives some people comfort to believe they'll go to heaven, I think that's wonderful.

Answer 2

Hey, I get that too, and so does a friend of mine. It's this feeling where you think about it so much that for a moment you almost stop breathing and you feel like this wave of absolute panic has swept over you.

Death is the ultimate fear of the human mammal.

I was not afraid of what happens after I die, because I know nothing will happen. THAT is what I was afraid of, not remembering anything, not being able to look back on life, because I won't be there, I won't even be conscious-so there will be nothing.

Freaky, eh :)

But I have since realized that if you fear death all the time, it stops you from living life. Everyone has this time bomb over their head, but the best thing is to not dwell on it and go out and do things that make you feel alive. After a while you will find that death no longer frightens you anymore. It's just another bridge to cross.

I think the best advice is from The Hitchikers Guide to the Galaxy-'Don't Panic.'

Answer 3

I do get scared sometimes about death.

As to what happens after you die... Those people who have experienced death usually don't say much. There are so many religions (and quasi religions) that seem to have an answer to your question, the problem is that they don't seem to agree with each other and more than one of them would tell you that they are 100% confident that they are right. This means that if you were to take them literally then at least some of them are wrong.

Here is the way that I look at it:

The majority of religions describe God as having the love of a mother / father and I can't imagine my mother or father sending me to burn in hell just because I happened to learn the wrong religion, so I would hope that if there is a heaven I would be going.

Alternately there is no God and death is just the end of your consciousness in which case death would be the same as falling asleep.

Really I can't imagine a better way to end my life (assuming that my life is as full as I can make it) than either a peaceful slumber or a life in eternal bliss

Answer 4

I used to have panic attacks about this very question, even though I'm a Christian (obviously not a fundamentalist!). Anyway, I lost a lot of sleep and focused a lot of energy for many years on this issue. I finally realized I was letting the thing I feared most--death--take over the thing I wanted most--to live. I just decided I was going to do everything I could to push the death thoughts out of my mind. I came up with a "happy thought" that my mind could go to, to squelch the "death thoughts." I'd imagine myself on a sunny beach and actually try to feel the warmth of the sun on my skin. Every time the death thoughts would start, I'd make myself think of my happy thought and think about fun things--planning a vacation, winning the lottery, something fun. My mind was stubborn--it would try to go right back to the death fears, then I'd have to force the happy thoughts. It took a few months, but the fear of death eased quite a bit after awhile.

I also did spiritual sole searching during that time, but still have questions about the Biblical concept of Heaven. Even so, that search into my beliefs about death may have helped things, too. I also read books by psychic Sylvia Browne. I don't know how valid she is, but her concepts of Heaven and death are quite comforting to me. I figure, since no one really knows what happens, who can say she's wrong?

Answer 5

After the last breath, the brain still works for about 60 min., so it's possible that the one who's dead realize the effect.
Dead is the end, so we all have to make the best of ower life's, life is hard enough and the world would be a better place if everything was not so complicated.
Someone told that it cheaper to die " no more bills to pay", well even on a dead body they put VAT on, that's the government here in Belgium.

Answer 6

I don't worry about things I have no control over. I used to fear death when I was younger. But now, I try to just enjoy living. If there's life after death, then I hope I tried my best. If not, then there's really nothing I can do about it.

I've never had any kind of supernatural experience. But sometimes I look at life as a roller coaster. You start when you're born, and when you die, it ends. Then you look back on it and say "Wow, what a ride!"

Answer 7

I am not scared of death or what happens after you die. I am buddhist and believe in rebirth. I believe we are all here to learn live lessons, which bring us to new lessons in our next lives.

None of us can truly know what happens when we die, but don't you think concerntrating on living might be more beneficial?

Answer 8

first of all , dump the religion. Then accept that there is nothing when you die except they either burn you or put youi in a hole to rot. It happens to everyone and that is why we have religion that promises something after that. But there is nothing so why don't you stop worrying and start LIVING. Life is not a rehearsal for death.
Life is wonderful, and if you live it to the full you will be glad to take leave of it when you are too tired to go on.

Answer 9

I'm scared of death only becuz i dont know how i will die. Hope its painless! And for what happens after we die well I believe that god created us and we will all see each other in heaven one day.

Answer 10

no, everyone will pass on eventually. I just see it as a big adventure I'll go through when my time comes. I am 42 years old and what I fear is how I might die, like will I get sick? will I have cancer and be in pain for a long time? But I wont worry about it until it happens.