Fear of death, and dying from the flu

[Nicole14]

Hi everyone. I am new to this. But feeling really anxious tonight. My son has a stomach flu, and I have always had an irrational fear of death from flus or viruses. I also have a fear of death. my husband tells me that it just won't happen, but why can't I take his advice and get out of my own head. I cant concentrate on anything else. I fear that he or someone in my family will die. It's all consuming, and feels like it's takes over my life. What can I do to get over this??

[Cruncher]

I suffer from the same thing, except always worrying about someone dying in an accident.

The best thing to do is to remind yourself of all the modern medicine out there, and how resilient human bodies can be. We have so many medical options now, we are blessed to be alive during this time period. If it is just the stomach bug, he will be ok in a day or two. I have had the stomach bug many times, and it clears up. The body is just trying to expel the germ. Just remind yourself of these facts.

Also remind yourself of the statistics (for example, when my boyfriend was traveling by plane, I was freaking out a bit but then I remembered how statistically low it was for the plane to crash. Several hundred planes fly each day just fine). Same can go for you; thousands of people get flus and viruses each year and they are ok. And depending on where you are, do you honestly often hear about people dying of flus and viruses on a regular basis? It is this type of thinking that can help snap anxiety.

I get consumed with worrying about death. Death fascinates and frightens me. It's a weird combo lol. I always worry about losing someone I love. But to help myself break from that, I remind myself that I am pissing away my time with the ones I love by worrying about their death. It is wasting time, worrying about something that hasn't happened and is ruining the time I do have with loved ones. Yet it is so easy to spiral back into fear...

Just remember that tragedy happens, but not to everyone. Plenty of people have lives not hit with horrible tragedy. Think about the millions that don't have some crazy tragedy happening to them. You could easily be one of those millions.

[Nicole14 in reply to Cruncher]

Thank you cruncher for your words. I will keep reminding myself of them!!

[Cruncher in reply to Nicole14]

You are welcome!! It can be so tough to snap out of it, I've been there myself.... just gotta keep reminding yourself of the majority that are statistically a-ok!