Atheists/Humanists: Do you feel anxiety over death?

[Anonymous]

Who do you talk to when you do?

(sorry if this doesn't belong here, I didn't know where else to post)

[Anonymous]

I'm agnostic, and yes, I feel extreme existential anxiety about death. I try not to think about it or I get very, very upset.

[Anonymous]

I am atheist. I used to be very scared of it but now that I have to go to a nursing home regularly, I've gotten over it and have come to the realization its a given in life and when its my time, I just hope its quick and I don't suffer.

[Anonymous]

Yes, doesn't almost everyone experience some anxiety over death? I think it might be nice if I could believe a lie that an all powerful being is going to transport me to heaven. That would provide some comfort. But I don.'the have the personality to convince myself of such a thing, so I just try to live a decent and moral life and enjoy the time I have.

[Anonymous]

20:52 again. I don't feel anxiety about actually dying, or the pain of death. I feel anxiety about never being conscious again for the rest of eternity.

[Anonymous]

Nope.

I mean sure, we all experience a little anxiety. But it doesn't overly worry me. Mostly I just hope that when I die, it's not painful - and that someone clears my browser searches & cache! I don't have any anxiety about life itself ending.

I worry about trying to get more out of this life. Being happy, being healthy, being kind, trying some new things & experiences.

[Anonymous]

I think about it and get sad to think of no longer being part of the living world, my family, of course. I don't know that I get anxious about it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:20:52 again. I don't feel anxiety about actually dying, or the pain of death. I feel anxiety about never being conscious again for the rest of eternity.

This is what gets me too. Sometimes I wish I were dumber so I could believe in a god/heaven etc. But I'm not.

[Anonymous]

Occasionally, but generally it's a reminder to enjoy life while I'm here.

[Anonymous]

I have had some pretty bad anxiety about death ever since my mother died a year ago. Watching her die made it very real to put it simply, plus not having the buffer of a generation between me and oblivion makes it seem much closer.

My sister and I have discussed these worries to some extent, but she is Catholic so has that luxury of believing/hoping in an afterlife.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have had some pretty bad anxiety about death ever since my mother died a year ago. Watching her die made it very real to put it simply, plus not having the buffer of a generation between me and oblivion makes it seem much closer.

My sister and I have discussed these worries to some extent, but she is Catholic so has that luxury of believing/hoping in an afterlife.

I went to a Catholic mass of my 33-year-old friend, Rob, who died from a blood clot 30 minutes after he proposed to his girlfriend. The priest spent most of the time conducting a normal mass and then explained that we should all be very jealous of Rob because he got to be with God before we did. I wanted to shout out "Maybe God should have run that one by Rob first." It made me hard to understand how anyone could ever truly find comfort from Catholicism. But I tried to bite my tongue, thinking that if this nonsense somehow made Rob's mother or fiancé somehow feel better, it didn't really matter that it made me want to vomit.

[Anonymous]

I feel sad about not existing anymore, and not getting to see the rest of my kids' lives and their kids' lives, and what happens in the world. And yes, I probably agonize over that too much. But I also used to freak out as a child at the prospect of eternity -- when does it ever end? That frightened me much more.

[Anonymous]

Not really, as an agnostic I feel that I've lived a good life, I've been very good to people, and I think of there is a god he will take good deeds into consideration. If there is not a god, then we will all just be fertilizer.

[Anonymous]

No. I am not looking forward to the process of dying, but being dead will be fine.

I do sometimes regret not having done more with my life, but I think I did better than many and worse than some.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:20:52 again. I don't feel anxiety about actually dying, or the pain of death. I feel anxiety about never being conscious again for the rest of eternity.

Yes, this. Now that I'm middle-aged, I have quite a bit of anxiety about it.