Thanatophobia

[Queenofdarkness57]

Originally Posted by GeishaGirl

So you're certainly not Christian then. it's fine what you believe, but don't call it Christian. I seems to more resemble Buddhism.

Well, it's kind of a combination! It feels so weird saying that!

If you know it's a combination, I don't think you should go touting yourself as a Christian. You'll end up offending a lot of people.

You should call it Buddtian. Or Christism.

[Queenofdarkness57]

Originally Posted by GeishaGirl

If you know it's a combination, I don't think you should go touting yourself as a Christian. You'll end up offending a lot of people.

You should call it Buddtian. Or Christism.

Hey you know, I've never thought about it as something which is bad or offending. Geisha you mae it feel wrong and strange! I can't give up on my beliefs so easily just because I don't share all of them.
And btw Christism is good! hehe * thumbs up*

Originally Posted by Queenofdarkness57

Hey you know, I've never thought about it as something which is bad or offending. Geisha you mae it feel wrong and strange! I can't give up on my beliefs so easily just because I don't share all of them.
And btw Christism is good! hehe * thumbs up*

I certainly am not trying to make you feel bad, and if you feel that way, I apologize. I also not saying give up your beliefs. Your beliefs are fine.

[Queenofdarkness57]

Originally Posted by GeishaGirl

I certainly am not trying to make you feel bad, and if you feel that way, I apologize. I also not saying give up your beliefs. Your beliefs are fine.

No need to apologize! It just felt kind of strange, but my twisted beliefs are mine so I'll stick to them, regardless my religion. Goodnight

[DrenchedInGin]

Circle, a question after my own heart.

I'm fascinated with death. I think it's because at heart, I'm an utter coward. So long ago when I first realised the inevitability of it, I realised that I'd better get used to the idea, and fast. This sounds strange my dears, but the one thing I'm most frightened of is being frightened of dying. I'm horrified that the fear of death could interrupt my life, or that my manner of death will make me forget how good my life has been.

Also, I suffer from rather bad depression, and I don't liike to feed the Big Black Dog, if you know what I mean...

So I got myself familiar with the concept of death, and tried to understand it in every form. I've become somewhat of a Thanatophile... NO! not in that nasty way, you naughty people :-)

I mean that I've learned to accept it as a rich and meaningful part of life. I'm not sure I mind too much what happens after dealth (as long as the Christians aren't *completely* rightl, because I don't fancy ending up in any version of Hell, thanks very much) but I am desperately hoping that however I die, it won't be the one thing people remember about me.

My father has had a very serious form of cancer and he is living under the shadow of death every day. It's been good for him, he's started to really enjoy living properly. And not too long ago he said to me 'Gin, a death is not the sum of a life.' That's pretty profound for my little short English dad!

I agree with him though. Death is an important thing to accept and embrace, but it's just one part of life. So no matter whether I'm ready for it or not, I don't want it to be such a big deal that my loved ones can't handle it.

[DrenchedInGin]

Hmmm... this thread has really got me thinking.

There is one version of death that terrifies me, so much that I can't seem to deal with it no matter what I do. That's death by hanging. I have such a phobia about it (although, can fear of a gruesome, painful death really be considered a phobia?)

I don't know why, when nearly everything else doesn't worry me too much. I do have a famous ancestor who very narrowly escaped being hanged (well, he was a criminal) when he was 'accidentally' shot by somebody he thought was a friend. I often wonder if he was grateful to avoid the nastier of the two deaths. Can a morbid fear of a particular death be transferred across generations?

What about you? Is there any particular form of death that worries you more than any other? Do you think we can inherit fears from our ancestors?

[Circle V]

Strangulation scares me, too. Something about growing weaker and weaker-- less able to save yourself-- every moment makes me afraid. There's a point where you *know* that you won't be able to save yourself, and, barring a miracle, you *will* die. It's even worse being hanged-- everyone is watching you, yet no one will save you.

At least with, say, a gunshot wound you either die immediately or die after the fact-- you're not in fact being killed slowly, though you may be *dying* slowly. Also, there is always a chance or at least a hope of survival.

Ooo, and I really, REALLY do not want to be buried alive or otherwise cut off from the world and left to die-- Poe dealt with this a lot: The Cask of Amontillado, The Fall of the House of Usher all reflected his fear, and he wrote directly about his taphophobia (fear of being buried alive or fear of cemetaries, according to www.phobialist.com ) in at least one story.

The suffocation would be bad, but the other option-- claustrophobia, starvation, and ensuing madness-- would be worse.

[DrenchedInGin]

Originally Posted by Circle V

It's even worse being hanged-- everyone is watching you, yet no one will save you. .

That might be part of the reason for my fear of it. The loss of dignity - the lack of control. (Gin is a control freak :-)

At least with, say, a gunshot wound you either die immediately or die after the fact-- you're not in fact being killed slowly, though you may be *dying* slowly. Also, there is always a chance or at least a hope of survival.

... Or, in the case of my ancestor (who would have known he couldn't survive either way), a chance to get revenge on the silly bugger who shot him by dobbing him in to the police. (I didn't say this was a nice ancestor.)

Live burial... yes, it is something I've thought of. Who hasn't? The movie 'The Vanishing' was so horrifying, all the more so because it seemed so inevitable, and so personal.

I've wondered what might go through my mind if it were me... once one had accepted the inevitability of it, would one feel calmer? Perhaps simply let go, and experience it happening? I've always assumed that when I die, even if I'm surrounded by people, I'll be making that journey all alone...

[Queenofdarkness57]

Originally Posted by DrenchedInGin

Hmmm... this thread has really got me thinking.

There is one version of death that terrifies me, so much that I can't seem to deal with it no matter what I do. That's death by hanging. I have such a phobia about it (although, can fear of a gruesome, painful death really be considered a phobia?)

I don't know why, when nearly everything else doesn't worry me too much. I do have a famous ancestor who very narrowly escaped being hanged (well, he was a criminal) when he was 'accidentally' shot by somebody he thought was a friend. I often wonder if he was grateful to avoid the nastier of the two deaths. Can a morbid fear of a particular death be transferred across generations?

What about you? Is there any particular form of death that worries you more than any other? Do you think we can inherit fears from our ancestors?

I'm afraid of being diagnosed with a disease and have to live in pain knowing there's no cure and simply no way out. And maybe we CAN inherit fears from our ancestors, I guess this is one of the questions about life that can't be answered.

[succubus,queenofvampires]

I'm afraid of being exposed to radioactive materials and having to suffer a lot before dying like George Mason in 24,season 2.(I dunno if you've watched it...)

[WolfMoon]

Strangulation is bad. I would only wish it on very few people.

It is indeed, a terrible way to die. Feeling like your face is going to explode from the pressure, the blood roaring in your ears. It's just horrible.

*shudders*

I'm too damn busy to be afraid of death. Death can kiss my ass cause I've got too much to do. Maybe when I'm 90 I'll have slowed down enough to consider Death as a possibility for tomorrow...

[Circle V]

Free time leads to boredom, boredom leads to speculation, speculation leads to revelation, revelation leads to understanding, understanding leads to wisdom, wisdom leads to greatness. Then you die.

Therefore, free time = death.

[Godslayer Jillian]

Nice philosophy, you deserve a cookie

[Circle V]

Cookies lead to weight gain, weight gain leads to obesity, obesity leads to heart problems, heart problems lead to death.

Cookies = Death

...I'll be having that cookie now.

[Godslayer Jillian]

Argh, ok, you can have lettuce. Happy?
Great, now I want a cookie, hehe

[Circle V]

Eating lettuce leads to rumors of anorexia, rumors of anorexia lead to rumors of supermodel-dom, rumors of supermodel-dom lead to rabid fans, rabid fans lead to crazed stalkers, like in Misery, and crazed stalkers, like in Misery, lead to death.

I'm running out of ideas, aren't I?

I could always say...

Lettuce leads to choking, and choking leads to death.

[Godslayer Jillian]

No no no, the longer and crazier the better. You've never heard my story of the militaristic squirrels?

[Circle V]

Nope, never. Perhaps I will...?

[Godslayer Jillian]

Hehe, it was in the Corrupted Wishes Game thread (what ever happened to it?)
Cannibalnuns said:
I wish I had a squirrel that was a cannibal to his own kind.
And I said:
I'll grant you wish. A cannibal squirrel becomes the terror in Central Park.
By survival necessity, the other squirrels build a militaristic society with which they killed the squirrel. The squirrel scoutsgroup take a look at just how big the world is.
In less than 8 months, the squirrels control Canada, New England, and Greenland in where they're building a navy to attack Spain and then the rest of europe.
Their goal, train humans to be their slaves

My Grandfather was in the hospital yesterday. Remember how I said I would freak out about being 90 because I knew I'd more then likely be dead within 10 years? My grandpa is 92. I totally freaked out last night

[Circle V]

That's awesome, Jillian.

That's not so great, GeishaGirl. I wish the best for your grandfather.

[Draygorn]

You know, I don't typically think about death. I mean, what's the point? Yes, we're all going to die. There's no changing that, it's simply a matter of when, how and where. You can either focus on death, or spend what time you've got living.

[Circle V]

When you spend more time thinking about death than living, you're already dead. That said, I'm often preoccupied with it on some level, be it subconscious or conscious. I don't allow it to dominate my life, or even to truly depress me. The only thing I fear about death (now at least, with it seeming so far away) is dying alone. Not literally, you understand.

Thoughts (of death and everything else) creep in at night, when you're doing nothing at all. Idleness inevitably leads to speculation. It seems to me that one of the reasons for the oft-mentioned decline of our species is that we have so many things to do that many of us see no reason to think at all, and those of us that find it important don't have the required time to do so.