How to face the death?Wd fear!

[[Ma...]]

This year so much famouse people and people that I know just died.Usally from one moment to another.That made my fear from death even worst.I had it before but now in WD it is crazy.I have really problem living like this.How to face death?How to accept it?

[[wo...]]

Masha,

 

I also have a fear of death and serious illness.  I live in constant fear of them.  And chemically enhanced terror is no fun.

 

As you said, much of your fear is being generated by WD.  And there is no correlation between other people dying and you.

 

I try to exercise and eat right to cope with my fear of death.  I try to stay as healthy as possible.

 

ty

[[Da...]]

I believe all of us are afraid of dying to some degree, whether WDing or not. We are all going to die one day. It sounds like it is an intrusive thought you are having which is complicated by benzo WD. My intrusive thoughts go to suicide a lot but I know I would never actually do it. I believe this is how you have to treat his thought. So you have to put it out of your mind or understand it is irrational. That is so easier said then done and eventually it gets in anyway when you attempt to rest your mind like when you are trying to fall asleep. You have to come up with a safeguard against it and know it is due to benzo WD.

[[Wi...]]

Are you a spiritual person? I went thru months of the fear if dying-mostly at night when i was in bed. For me personally-i would recite the lords prayer over and over in my head like a mantra and that would sometimes put me to sleep. It almost felt as if it were "keeping the demons at bay" if you know what i mean. I wish you well fried because nothing comes close to the terror felt in benzo wd.

[[Su...]]

Ernest Becker postulates in his book (highly recommend) Denial of Death that almost every form of distraction (TV, drugs, social conventions, drinking, almost anything you can think of) is all a distraction from the anxiety of death, as stillness loneliness and emptiness invoke nothingness, which is the fear of death.

 

I am comfortable with death and dying.. I do work in trauma/nursing/operating room at a Level I trauma hospital.  I spent a few years reeling almost constantly about the horrors I witnessed and the air being sucked completely out of a room when someone dies.  However, coping mechanisms I use are reading, breathing, and meditation.  Reading a lot of philosophy and books reminds us that this is the problem of humanness.. people have been struggling to deal with it since the beginning of time.

 

That emptiness i mentioned?  That very scary alone feeling where there is no time and only fear and anxiety?  Well, think of it like before you were born.  Did you feel anything?  Did you miss anything?  Did time matter before you were born?  Nope, nope it didn't.  That feeling of emptiness does not exist.  Ultimately, the answer is unknown and really death can be a very peaceful experience for people.. It's those that are left around that have to deal with feelings of loss and the question of death.

 

As someone posted above, spirituality may help you cope.  Buddhist books and practicing meditation have done wonders for me - especially during my valium taper and since.. I can control my thoughts and feelings.  It takes time and patience and a lot of work, but it's that time and practice of doing so that you can live in the "now" and appreciate the rare gift of life. That is our one true gift - life.