Death anxiety - an obsessive fixation on death, dying and existence driven by intense fear of the inevitability of death - is a very common experience for listeners of Disordered.
This week Josh and Drew were lucky enough to have a chat with Professor David Veale, one of the leading authorities in in the UK on the topic of death anxiety and mental health issues related to death and existence. David helped spread some light and some much-needed humor on this topic that might help you change the way you approach your death-focused anxiety and fear.
The highlights:
Death is in fact an un-solvable problem. This creates discomfort for all humans, and fear is some kind for most humans. That is also unavoidable. Being uncomfortable with death is part of living. Approaching death anxiety means coming to grips with this reality.
We can all experience discomfort around the idea of death because it really is an important topic, however importance and urgency are not the same things. Please keep this in mind. Death might be important, but that does not make it a topic you need to tend to immediately as if it is a current emergency.
Compulsively searching for answers or solutions when it comes to death is a pointless exercise that just makes things worse than they have to be.
Overcoming death anxiety is an exercise is doing what we can do to prepare for death (writing wills, making funeral arrangements, talking about our feelings, etc.), then bring our discomfort or fear with us as we do our best to return to living the best life we can while we have it!
If you are struggling with death anxiety, this episode is worth a listen.
For more on Professor David Veale visit his website:
Find David’s book about death anxiety (co-authored with Rachel Menzies):
https://www.veale.co.uk/news/free-yourself-from-death-anxiety-book-published/
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Struggling with worry and rumination that you feel you can't stop or control? Check out Worry and Rumination Explained, a two hour pre-recorded workshop produced by Josh and Drew. The workshop takes a deep dive into the mechanics of worrying and ruminating, offering some helpful ways to approach the seemingly unsolvable problem of trying to solve seemingly unsolvable problems.
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