It is clear that all human beings cause certain anguish and uncertainty at the end of life, but when this anguish is extreme and irrational it can become a mental disorder. If, for example, you notice a lot of anxiety when going to a funeral or your heart rate goes off when you see on television that there has been a traffic accident with several fatalities, you may be suffering from necrophobia . But don’t worry, you don’t have to settle if the fear of death doesn’t let you live . The necrofobia can be overcome , have treatment and solution tells us the psychologist Ingrid Pistono .
What exactly is necrophobia
Necrophobia is the fear of death and everything related to it: funeral homes, skeletons, corpses, cemeteries, graves, hearse … But beware, that you are afraid of death does not mean that you suffer from necrophobia. Ingrid Pistono defines it very well: “we are all afraid of death, it becomes a phobia when this fear is exacerbated . That’s when you have to treat it ”.
That is to say, it is logical that you fear losing, for example, a loved one or losing your own life. Humans do not get along with the uncertainty of the unknown, and death is largely unknown to us. The problem comes when this fear conditions you in your daily life and limits your activities.
How to know then if you suffer from necrophobia? You will notice it because when you have contact with something related to death, you will begin to experience all the symptoms of anxiety : sweating, palpitations, obsessive thoughts, shortness of breath , dizziness… “In two words: you become paralyzed”, Ingrid tells us.
And necrophobia is not something that appears overnight. Normally its origin comes from having lived unpleasant experiences in the past regarding death : “having seen someone killed live, seeing a dead person or corpse when you are too young and are not yet ready for it…”, Ingrid continues explaining .
The truth is that it is inevitable to have experiences with death since all throughout life we will have to go to a funeral at some point, for example. Therefore, necrophobia is quite limiting. But it can be overcome. And its solution is fundamentally by going to a psychologist .
Advice from a psychologist to overcome the fear of death
If the fear of death is preventing you from developing your life normally, you need to consult a psychologist so that he can indicate the best treatment to follow. For the treatment of phobias, therapies are most commonly used therapy Cognitive Behavioral and Exposure Therapy . Both work on the patient gradually exposing himself to the feared situation (in this case death) until little by little he stops fearing it. For you to understand it in a practical way, the psychologist will first show you videos or images of corpses, skeletons, or things related to death and when you have learned to control anxiety in those situations, you will be ready to expose yourself to something greater, such as , attend a burial or funeral in person.
Although these therapies are effective with all phobias, as Ingrid tells us, in the case of necrophobia “the psychologist also works trying to modify or change the beliefs that one has about death as something horrible and terrifying” . This is so because necrophobia can also develop as a result of a fear inherited from parents since we are small. If our parents are afraid of death, it is likely that we are too.
On the other hand, in addition to psychological therapy, to overcome necrophobia you can also support yourself in different relaxation techniques or start meditating or practicing Mindfulness , an ancient technique through which you can reconnect with the present moment and remove all symptoms of anxiety. that is present in your body.
