III. Necrophobia: The Fear of Death

III. Necrophobia: The Fear of Death

There are a lot of fears according to http://www.wikipedia.org/:

• Ephebophobia, fear of youth or adolescents

• Acrophobia, Altophobia — fear of heights.
• Agoraphobia — fear of a place or event where escape is impossible or when help is unavailable.
• Algophobia — fear of pain.
• Androphobia — fear of males.
• Anthropomorphobia — fear or dislike of anthropomorphic traits.
• Aquaphobia, Hydrophobia — fear of water
• Astraphobia, Astrapophobia, Brontophobia, Keraunophobia — fear of thunder, lightning and storms; especially common in young children.
• Autophobia — fear of being alone.
• Aviophobia, Aviatophobia — fear of flying.
• Bacillophobia, Bacteriophobia, Microbiophobia — fear of microbes and bacteria.
• Bathophobia — fear of depth.
• Cibophobia, Sitophobia — aversion to food, synonymous to Anorexia nervosa.
• Claustrophobia — fear of confined spaces.
• Clinophobia — fear of going to bed or falling asleep.
• Dental phobia, Dentophobia, Odontophobia — fear of dentists and dental procedures.
• Dysmorphophobia, or body dysmorphic disorder — a phobic obsession with a real or imaginary body defect.
• Emetophobia — fear of vomiting.
• Ergasiophobia, Ergophobia — fear of work or functioning, or a surgeon's fear of operating.
• Genophobia, Coitophobia — fear of sexual intercourse.
• Heliophobia — fear of sunlight.
• Hemophobia, Haemophobia — fear of blood.
• Hexakosioihexekontahexaphobia — fear of the number 666.
• Hoplophobia — fear of firearms (guns).
• Mysophobia — fear of germs, contamination or dirt.
• Necrophobia — fear of death, the dead.
• Nosophobia — fear of contracting a disease
• Nyctophobia, Achluophobia, Lygophobia, Scotophobia — fear of darkness.
• Paraskavedekatriaphobia, Paraskevidekatriaphobia, Friggatriskaidekaphobia — fear of Friday the 13th.
• Pyrophobia, — fear of fire.
• Radiophobia — fear of radiation or X-rays.
• Taphophobia — fear of the grave, or fear of being placed in a grave while still alive.
• Tokophobia — fear of childbirth.
• Triskaidekaphobia, Terdekaphobia — fear of the number 13.
• Trypanophobia, Aichmophobia, Belonephobia, Enetophobia — fear of needles, injections or of pointed objects.
• Xenophobia — fear of strangers, foreigners, or aliens.

The root of the phobias mentioned is the fear of death. The phobias on the list above are all related to death. The truth about death, added with the uncertainty of an afterlife, for many causes fear. As a reaction to this fear, we humans find numerous ways of how we can extend our lives but the fear still remains.

Normally, we fear the things that we are not sure of. The fear of death takes no exception to that fact. It’s like taking an examination; you can’t have fear for as long as you have prepared for the said examination. The same is also true with death; people fear this five-letter word because they haven’t prepared on it. People fear death because they don’t know what is ahead of death. People fear death because they are uncertain of the events that follow after death.

The fear of death is psychologically known as Necrophobia. According to http://www.wikipedia.org/ (2007), “Necrophobia or thanatophobia is fear of death or dead things, e.g, corpses, as well as things associated with death, e.g., coffins, etc. The former term is derived from Greek nekros for "corpse" and suffix -phob- for "fear". The latter term is derivied from Thanatos (θάνατος: "death") is the personification of death. The usage differs, although in common speech the terms are used interchangeably. Thanatophobia does include but is not limited to the fear of personal death or dying.”

The fear of death is a very common fear to us humans. This is manifested most by the film industry by making horror and thriller films that shows numerable ways of death. Especially among the Filipinos, the fear of death is proved by our reactions on ancient ghost stories that relate stories of death and dying. Because this fear has been so common, this fear becomes unnoticed along the way; this is over familiarized by many, this fear is something that people fear but they just ignore and disregard it. This fear is something that people kept denying to themselves. I have enlisted some of the possible symptoms of Necrophobia according to http://www.phobia-fear-release.com/ (2007)

Symptoms of necrophobia:

• Shortness of breath
• Rapid heartbeat
• Infrequent and asymmetrical heart beat
• Sweating
• Dry mouth and shaking
• Feeling sick and queasy
• Psychological instability
• An altogether feeling of dread and trepidation

These symptoms are not always evident in someone’s way of life. These symptoms are momentary manifestations after experiencing a close to death experience or witnessing someone in a close to death experience. Our mind records the experience with death and because of this the human reacts on the above symptoms. Necrophobia is not just a fear of death as an event. Someone who has necrophobia also fears things that relates to death. The human psyche fears the things that relates to death because it equates those things as reasons or results of death. So these symptoms mentioned are also momentary manifestations after discussing things that relates to death. The author would like to state some examples of these things that relates to death. These are coffins, graveyard, diseases, pain, blood and etc.

I used to remember the night after my traumatic experience at the pool; I couldn’t sleep peacefully knowing that there’s a question that is left unanswered deep within my heart. The uncertainty is there. What if I died that time; there was no certainty what’s ahead. The trauma then came. Anything that relates to death disturbs me much. Later did I recognize that is was necrophobia.