get over my fear of death

I started having panic attacks about this when I was eleven. I went through the death of a relative at age eight, and it kept sticking with me and then one night in bed, I broke down. I couldn’t breathe, I was hyperventalating (sp?), shaking, my heart felt as though it was being ripped in half. I think about it so much. I’ve been turning more to religion, but I can’t learn the unknown and that terrifies me.

I first realized death as being closer to me when I went to school with a girl who died when we were 14 from a brain aneurysm. It scared me to death completely. Ever since then I have suffered from anxiety about death and every time I get a headache it is the absolute worst. I would love to conquer this fear and be able to live the life that I want and am meant to live, not one of mental confinement as I know it know.

hi im 16 and my name is paul i have the same problems it started at a younger age i first experianced ‘death’ for what it was during a programme called ‘are you afraid of the dark’ at first i thought nothing of it but through the past years its grown and grown on me then my friend died and it struck me, i think about death at least 3 times a day i get like a chill down my spine, my stomahc turns cold and i feel like im gonna be sick, i cant breath properly and i just wunna cry, i try to tell some1 but im too embarrassed, i often think about death and have often wondered, when u die is there a heaven? are you reincarnated? or do u just imagine nothing for eternity and it’s those very thoughts that haunt me, i no my mother tells me im young but 11 years have already flew by, and death is apporaching at high speed and i dont no what to do!! if any1 can provide me with some sort of comfort pls email me at fewkes6@hotmail.com

To bring more to this subject since i have read the rest of the comments:
I have such a wonderful life! I have a great boyfriend that loves me and the best mates…but that still doesn’t stop me.
Every few months i used to go into a full out panic attack! Couldn’t breathe, couldn’t think, couldn’t stop shaking. My first one i am told was when i was very young so its been going on all my life! I’m still young but now its getting more often nearly every day i fight to keep my head on top of things, i can’t sleep, i can’t eat and the only time i feel a bit at peace is when i am drinking but i refuse to live my life in fear and drunk!

I would love to not have a panic attack about this, or watch a really scary movie and not have to have a day off to just breathe!

She died yesterday about an hour after we got her up to the hospice bed. Which was expected. The “death” took about 30 minutes. Watching it, I became anxious, took half of a xanax (I’m prescribed them). Later that night I had a full on panic attack. She said she wasn’t scared. It looked so f’ing scary though…

I went to the hospital. She is dying. I brought old pictures of her and my mom from the 50’s. I thought it would be nice. I made sure mom got to have a nice goodbye. They were going to do some more stuff to her tomorrow, but I explained hospice to her and that’s what she wanted (I’m an RN). She stated very clearly that she wants to die and that she is ready. I asked her if she was scared- she said no. She goes up to the hospice floor in the morning. She will probably pass either tomorrow night or early the next morning. It was weird being the one to facilitate the process even knowing it’s what she wants. I will be there tomorrow when she dies. It hasn’t triggered my own panic about “it”...but I think it’s because I am in care taker mode for my mother’s sake.

I’ve always been afraid to die. I have panic attacks about it many times (usually in the evening). It’s been an issue since I was a little kid. My grandmother (I’m not close with her) is going to pass in the next day or two, so I am going with my mother to see her in the ICU at noon. I found old pictures of her and my mom so I think I’m going to bring them (if it makes her sad I’ll put them away). I don’t know if going will trigger me to feel that scared feeling…but I will go anyway because I want to support my mom.

This used to fighten me when I didn’t understand why we are here and what will happen when we die.

I lost my grandmother a few months back and that’s when it hit me – I’m going to die someday. The fear is so overwhelming that sometimes I can’t eat or sleep. I get a burning feeling from my chest down to my stomach. I can’t breathe and start panicking. I know that death is inevitable but I fear the unknown. I don’t want to spend the rest of my life in fear of this event that will eventually take place.

Has anyone found any tips or techniques to help cope with this fear?