What the title says. I’ve been getting these severe panic attacks thinking about the “nothing”. The void. It’s not even that I may be forgotten or anything. I couldn’t care less about that. It’s the fact that at one point there’ll just be- Nothing. No experiences, no breathing no thinking just- Nothing. It terrifies me. I’ve tried convincing myself that the fact we came to be is an impossibility. That the very fact that the world is infinite means at one point i’ll be revived since- Infinity. But no. Nothing I do calms the fears. It keeps me up at night. I don’t wanna sleep because I don’t want to not wake up. I go to the gym and a lot of the times just wonder why im even doing it. Sometimes im able to overcome it and stop thinking about it but a lot of the times it’s overbearing. I wish I could just stop thinking about death but there’s no magic pill to do that. I wish I could be religious so I’d believe in something after death but I have a hard time convincing myself. Im so scared of the inevitable that I can hardly live. I need help. Anything at all to ease the existential pain.
I can’t accept that I will die and it’s hurting everything in my life.
r/Advice
Comments
You weren’t unprofessional at all, just thrown into a mess without the tools to succeed. In a workplace where blame flies fast, written proof is your shield and silence is your downfall.
This fear of the void isn’t weakness, it’s the price of being truly conscious. If death is the only guarantee, then living fully becomes your ultimate rebellion so pour meaning into every breath and dare to matter despite the end.
The good news is that you’re questioning death. That alone means something. I know you said you were not religious, but maybe just try to pray? I feel like “someone” is trying to reach you. For me, that someone would be God. Anyway, I’m not trying to force religion on you. But there is peace in prayer.
No experience no breathing
If you are terrified of that then why don’t you breathe when you can and live the experience.
Tell your brain you can’t stop the death but you can live till then
Reading this OP I feel EXACTLY the same even to the point where I’m too going to the gym! This could have been written by me so I’ll tell you my thoughts on this all that I’ve felt and learnt so far in my 40 years on this planet..
Sometimes when I really think about things I just think surely there has to be something anything any kind of point to all this, what’s it for? It doesn’t make any sense, why this time was I born? I have so many why questions?
What makes me believe there’s a higher being or something out there is that sometimes something just happens out of nowhere that makes me believe someone is watching over me, like someone is helping me..
Example even today, I woke up and was fine but for some reason when I was going to the gym I just got in this foul mood, I started to see no one gave a crap about me and all these little things and I started to get angry then I’m at the gym in a bad mood with no energy for my workout and a random guy comes up to me and asks me to spot him, I helped him with his lift and I don’t know why, I can’t explain why but I felt better, it was like that genuine gratefulness and also me being able to help someone and that out of everyone in the gym he asked me for help
Sure it could be coincidental but why does this ALWAYS happen at the times when you’re feeling the most lost?
Humans are too small for us to understand things so maybe just maybe there is a place outside of all this now because if there’s not then what the hell is the point of all this
Have you considered therapy as well as religion, just letting it out there that it can help you cope with your fears and better understand where they come from.
Leaving this here just in case, you can combine this with going to church and God as well, they are not mutually exclusive remember that, if anything they would likely be complimentary.
Enjoy life while you know it’s coming to an end, do not think about death and let it happen. Take everyday like it’s your last and truly appreciate the nature and the things that consist around you. It will be hard in the beginning but after a few weeks of doing that you will be happy. My grandad had colon cancer and on his final days he was saying that he wish he could have enjoyed life and not think much about death and that was his regret.
So if I was you do your best to enjoy every single second, minute, hour and days…
Do you get scared of sleeping? That’s long period of nothing. Bit of an insight that actually it’ll be quite peaceful. Either that or I’ve just given you a new fear of sleeping.
Seriously it’s why a lot of people take comfort in religion, and the idea of some after life. Personally I think that’s all nonsense, but it might give you comfort…
Congratulations! You’ve discovered existential dread. It’s awful, but it’s also useful, because while death ultimately destroys us, the idea of death saves us. Fear of nothingness pushes us to try to make our lives as worthwhile and meaningful as possible; if we were immortal, why would we care?
Make a place for that fear and then resist the urge to take it out and fidget with it too often. If you’re living, it’s doing its job. If you start to get complacent, let it poke a finger out and tap you on the shoulder.
I think you need a professional help. There’s a name for your problem too, I think it’s called Thanatophobia.