Since my health anxiety and bad physical symptoms have started I’ve had a very bad fear of death.
I’m always thinking about it and it scares me. I know I’m only 19 and doctors gave me a clean bill of health but it frequently comes to mind ever since the physical symptoms started coming.
treyjeff, Anxiety disorder magnifies normal fears ten fold, maybe more. So small health concerns (usually symptoms of health anxiety) become exaggerated into major worries of impending doom. This I suggest is the cause of your fear of death, a very common symptom of health anxiety.
You deal with it by accepting it for the time being and not fighting the feeling.
You are still concentrating your attention on the symptoms of anxiety when I suggest you should have switched your focus to the cause of your anxiety, the over sensitisation of the nervous system, and how to desensitise it through understanding, reassurance and a self help method that has helped untold thousands to recover over the past fifty years.
I’m trying but this fear of death stems from when I actually believed I was dying when my symptoms were at their worst and I can’t seem to shake it. Terrible feeling.
Most of my physical symptoms are gone but the ones that remain (tiny bit of chest pain, frequent breathing issues, and dizziness) really trouble me still even though I know they’re from anxiety.
Everytime you feel you're going to die you release fear and stress hormones.
Everytime you feel chest pain you release fear and stress hormones.
Everytime you feel breathless you release fear and stress hormones.
Everytime you feel dizzy you release fear and stress hormones.
The fear and stress hormones react with your nervous system keeping it in a state of permanent over sensitivity.
The over sensitive nerves cause the following symptoms: a feeling of impending death, chest pain, breathlessness and dizziness.
Treyjeff, can you see the vicious ciricle you are maintaining? Here's how to shake it:
Stop fighting.
Do nothing.
Accept the symptoms and feeling of death for the time being.
Accept them calmly and with the minimum of fear knowing full well they are all fake symptoms which cause discomfort but can do no permanent harm.
Let time pass...maybe say to yourself from time to time 'I used to think I was about to die!'
The full method for recovery is in Claire Weekes' first book "Self help for your nerves" available pre-owned from Ebay for a few pounds. Read the book. If you've already read it, read it again.
Nothing to lose.
I feel the exact same way you do! Simple headaches cause you to overthink, right? And cause you to panic?
One of the main things to remember is that human bodies are very resilient. We are not weak by any means.
Understanding the functions of the body can help a lot too: like, knowing that the brain has zero pain receptors in it tells you that a headache doesn’t mean you have a tumor.
Understand that stress causes a LOT of symptoms that could be mistaken for more serious illnesses. Like chest pain.
Just remember to breath deep breaths when you start to panic. And try your best to live each day the best of your abilities. Life is a precious gift, try not to waste it stressing about things you cannot control❤️
Ah, I wish I could say to you “you’re only 19, live your life, have sex, meet people, travel and don’t be anxious etc”...but I can’t say that to you, I am young(ish) myself and I have been battling exactly the same fear for years now. Instead of enjoying being here and living my life, I am worried about “what if” or “is it a heart attack?”. What helps me is the acceptance that I am mortal and I will die. No one is going to make it out of here alive and this is the fact. And it scares me as well but I can’t change it.
Maybe you should see a therapist? Because no matter how many times doctors are going to say “you’re healthy etc”, it’s not going to be enough. So, therapy is the best option (at least for me). Acceptance works for me but there’re so many other healthy ways to tackle it. Good luck x
Something odd I often think about is after my sister died I went thru this fearful obsession of death too. The thing is when I was young I almost did die from a ruptured appendix that went undiagnosed for over a week!! And yet in my mind the obsessive thoughts about death were worse than almost dying!! It is so crazy. I think I came to a point when I was so physically ill that I had no more energy to fight it or to feel fear of it and I accepted it and that was the best feeling ever. Now I’m working on accepting my anxiety/panic disorder so I can hopefully move on a better and stronger person someday.
I have this all the time but slightly different! The thought of dying / death gives me anxiety and makes me have panic attacks. Whenever I think about it what it feels like or what happens after I can’t think straight for hours and can’t breathe have panic attacks just thinking about it!! How do I make this stop?
I’m so sorry to hear you feel like that. It’s a horrible feeling and I can definitely relate to it. I think you will benefit from therapy. There’re many different approaches doctors take depending on a patient’s situation. I have tried CBT in the past and can’t say it was very helpful. Now I’m seeing a different therapist who takes a different approach, a compassionate one, which I think is helping. I am not being reassured but I am learning how to accept many things in my life (my past experiences, health problems and eventual death). My GP has suggested medication but I refused because I hope I can start controlling my thoughts without medication.
Death has always been a difficult thing for me to accept. It has become even more unbearable when my dad passed away three years ago. That fear then transformed into a health anxiety and so on. It’s horrible. I’m a lot better not but it’s because I sought help and I am constantly working on myself and my thoughts. But I know for sure I can’t do it by myself as this journey should not be done alone. So please seek help and stay strong x
I use to have a fear of death and it occasionally comes up for me but what I realized is that having had anxiety, it was only natural to fear death. Because the ultimate role of anxiety is to supposedly keep us safe of which death is our biggest threat. I also realized that my anxiety was really keeping me from my biggest fear which was not living a well-lived life on my terms, it wasn't death. The reality is that we are all going to die some day, which means surrendering and accepting that fact, just like the way to recovery from anxiety disorder. I firmly believe that our natural state as human beings is to be in harmony with life and not in a state of anxiety. In my recovery from anxiety disorder i've gratefully found myself dwelling less and less on dying and way more on living.
I'd like to share my broadcast endeavor with you. If you still have these fears. You are not alone.
health anxiety and death
Extreme Fear of Death 
Overwhelming Fear of Death
Has anyone on here had a chemical imbalance brought on through anxiety?
