At least once per month, almost always in bed when the lights go off at night time, I get an unavoidable sense of panic about my own mortality and the realisation that one day, all the richness of life and its feelings and experiences will be finished for me. (Context: atheist.)
The thought creeps into my mind suddenly, and I can never shake it off; my heart rate increases, the panic builds up over ~10 seconds, and I have to do something for a while to distract myself and calm down. Light on, sit up, go for a drink, scroll Reddit, read another chapter of my book.
Does this kind of thing happen to anyone else? Were you able to make it stop?
36 yo in happy marriage with 2 kids