Fear of What Comes After Death

[_crgam]

The main thing from holding me back from committing ctb is an overwhelming fear of what might occur after death. I was raised as a Christian but eventually stopped believing in the existence of God and became an atheist. Despite that, the uncertainty of what lies beyond death continues to haunt me. I have read stories from people who experienced temporary death and were later revived. The accounts that terrified me the most involved the concepts of "hell" or a "black void." The thought of an eternal, dark void is especially terrifying to me. I would much prefer the idea of ceasing to exist entirely over any continuation of awareness or consciousness. Whenever I contemplate taking my own life, I'm not afraid of the act itself or the method. It's the possibility of entering a void or facing an unknown existence that is enough to make me back out everytime. I want to overcome this fear and stop being held back by thoughts of what comes after death.

 

[maniac116]

I believe in a God & it has worried me, but oddly, after coming to this forum I have been feeling better.
But ya, I think " what if I'm wrong about" scenarios. You're not alone. There's probably many that worry about it

 

[monstercatering]

I believe it will be something like the void but that gives me peace. I think in death there is finally salvation or complete peacefulness. I agree with some of the conclusions of buddhism where existence is inherently suffering. Or pessimistic stuff like there is more suffering in life than there is pleasure. So I think non existing is the only way to get rid of that suffering and that it will be complete peacee and eternal fulfillment. It may not sound convincing I don't have advice for you to believe this just saying for me it is a very comforting thought.
Another thought that comforted me before I started believing this stuff is that if you imagine what your experience before you were born is, that's what death is. I can't explain it more than that but the way I imagine it is not suffering or scary. Also if you are a logical person because the people that had NDE were still medically alive they don't know what death is actually like, and there is no way a living person can figure out what happens after death it is something you may just want to will yourself out of worrying about because until your dead there is no way to know, and once you are dead it won't matter what happens anyway, because you are dead.

 

[Gustav Hartmann]

We will all find out what comes after death. Only if, how we live and die has an impact on what comes after death it is worth to think about it.

 

[pthnrdnojvsc]

There is no continuation of consciousness after Death. After Death is non-existence forever. What am i ? Only this body and this brain. That is tested every time i think about it and look around . i'm always trapped in this brain and body. always have to feed it 3 times a day, groceries , wash it etc. Wherever you go there you are. what else could i be but this brain ? there is no evidence for anything else.

All thinking , consciousness , viewing of the world is created by the brain. you only see the world from the perspective that the eyes transmit light signals to the brain.

After the brain dies it can never create consciousness nor pain which is the best thing to me.

non-existence forever is the best thing to me , no pain no problems no suffering no bad memories ever.

There are libraries of books, papers, web pages that have proof on top of proof of what a human is , what life is and how life originated. There is no one line in a book about the brain that contradicts that a human is just a brain , 30 trillion cells. same for a book on molecular cell biology or evolution. And there is no one single line in any of those books that contradict any line in another of those books . Each line each page each chapter each book further strenghtens the evidence further confirms it . the more you read and think about it and test some of these things you see the evidence is overwhelming , incontrovertible.

There is no line in a book or web page that breaks the evidence nor that contradicts the other sciences. it all fits together . even in a book about molecular cell biology you see how chemical reactions formed simple machines that then formed cells from the tinyest details these machines and chemical processes have been analyzed. They've been working on what is life , what is a human for hundreds of years. all the sciences confirm each other even physics, artificial intelligence , chemistry , cell biology.

 

[ijustwishtodie]

So far, the evidence seems to point to death being permanent non existence. When you die, you lose consciousness meaning there's no "you". It's like a permanent dreamless sleep or permanent anesthesia. There's no hell or heaven as depicted in religions nor is there any "void" that we go through and stay conscious. These things have only been developed by humans to cope with the idea of being permanently non existent after death

 

[FuneralCry]

I also wish to just cease existing as well, nothingness is all I personally hope for, I just wish for the absence of existence where all is finally gone and forgotten about for me. Personally I'd never fear ceasing to exist as I believe death to just be non-existence which is all I see as desirable, I fear this existence instead that just causes endless amounts of suffering, I see existence as so cruel and futile. But anyway I wish you the best.

 

[Mooseanonsky]

I'm an atheist, sometimes agnostic. I don't want to believe there is a god because how cruel would it be that God exists and created humans to suffer? People are tortured to death, die of hunger, die from lack of healthcare in the US, assaulted, get terminal cancer, murdered.

And yet, I think when I die I'll go to my ideal afterlife—no longer able to feel hungry, thirsty, chronic pain, stress, loneliness, mental illnesses. So if I'm dead and alone for eternity, I'd be alright.

But I think I'm deluding myself. I want to ctb but sometimes I think how scary it'd be. It's just a void, pure darkness. Would I even know I ctb? I think cowardice is the reason why I'm still here. I know most people think suicide is cowardly but idk, I kinda disagree. You ignore your survival instincts, willing to feel pain as you die whether it takes seconds, minutes, hours? Sounds brave to me. Anyway, maybe one day my desire to CTB will outweigh the fear of nothingness.

 

[_crgam]

I believe it will be something like the void but that gives me peace. I think in death there is finally salvation or complete peacefulness. I agree with some of the conclusions of buddhism where existence is inherently suffering. Or pessimistic stuff like there is more suffering in life than there is pleasure. So I think non existing is the only way to get rid of that suffering and that it will be complete peacee and eternal fulfillment. It may not sound convincing I don't have advice for you to believe this just saying for me it is a very comforting thought.
Another thought that comforted me before I started believing this stuff is that if you imagine what your experience before you were born is, that's what death is. I can't explain it more than that but the way I imagine it is not suffering or scary. Also if you are a logical person because the people that had NDE were still medically alive they don't know what death is actually like, and there is no way a living person can figure out what happens after death it is something you may just want to will yourself out of worrying about because until your dead there is no way to know, and once you are dead it won't matter what happens anyway, because you are dead.

Your response really made me see things in a new light and brought me some comfort about death. Thank you

So far, the evidence seems to point to death being permanent non existence. When you die, you lose consciousness meaning there's no "you". It's like a permanent dreamless sleep or permanent anesthesia. There's no hell or heaven as depicted in religions nor is there any "void" that we go through and stay conscious. These things have only been developed by humans to cope with the idea of being permanently non existent after death

Honestly, I really hope that's true because I can't stand the thought of going through this again.

I'm an atheist, sometimes agnostic. I don't want to believe there is a god because how cruel would it be that God exists and created humans to suffer? People are tortured to death, die of hunger, die from lack of healthcare in the US, assaulted, get terminal cancer, murdered.

And yet, I think when I die I'll go to my ideal afterlife—no longer able to feel hungry, thirsty, chronic pain, stress, loneliness, mental illnesses. So if I'm dead and alone for eternity, I'd be alright.

But I think I'm deluding myself. I want to ctb but sometimes I think how scary it'd be. It's just a void, pure darkness. Would I even know I ctb? I think cowardice is the reason why I'm still here. I know most people think suicide is cowardly but idk, I kinda disagree. You ignore your survival instincts, willing to feel pain as you die whether it takes seconds, minutes, hours? Sounds brave to me. Anyway, maybe one day my desire to CTB will outweigh the fear of nothingness.

That's one of the reasons I became an atheist. I've never understood why God would allow so much suffering for innocent people and not help them if he truly loves each of us as his "own." The saying "God gives his toughest battles to his strongest soldiers" has always felt like total bs to me. The fact that people who are genuinely happy and love life can die, while others who struggle just to survive every day, often end up stuck in that fight, just never seemed fair. I had a grandpa who passed away from heart disease and he was someone who loved life…and I always wondered why it had to be him instead of me, someone who's struggled with my existence since birth. He deserved to live more than I did.

I honestly can't imagine being immortal and living for eternity after experiencing this life, so I think that's great for you When the time comes, I truly hope you find yourself in a better place than where you are now.

I completely get you. I've had so many failed attempts because I lack the courage to actually end my life. I often wish I had the same strength other people do to make those decisions. I hope I can find the courage to move past my fear soon too, because I'm starting to feel like I'm at a breaking point where I just want it all to be over.

 

[Mooseanonsky]

Your response really made me see things in a new light and brought me some comfort about death. Thank you

Honestly, I really hope that's true because I can't stand the thought of going through this again.

That's one of the reasons I became an atheist. I've never understood why God would allow so much suffering for innocent people and not help them if he truly loves each of us as his "own." The saying "God gives his toughest battles to his strongest soldiers" has always felt like total bs to me. The fact that people who are genuinely happy and love life can die, while others who struggle just to survive every day, often end up stuck in that fight, just never seemed fair. I had a grandpa who passed away from heart disease and he was someone who loved life…and I always wondered why it had to be him instead of me, someone who's struggled with my existence since birth. He deserved to live more than I did.

I honestly can't imagine being immortal and living for eternity after experiencing this life, so I think that's great for you When the time comes, I truly hope you find yourself in a better place than where you are now.

I completely get you. I've had so many failed attempts because I lack the courage to actually end my life. I often wish I had the same strength other people do to make those decisions. I hope I can find the courage to move past my fear soon too, because I'm starting to feel like I'm at a breaking point where I just want it all to be over.

I mean, I'd love to spend forever in a fantasy. Kinda like that black mirror episode when the main character was dying and they hooked her consciousness into a machine and she ended up in a younger body and just this virtual reality where other people who died and agreed to stay there instead of opting for nothingness.

If I die and I'm no longer human, how can I suffer? It's a permanent state of euphoria. But yeah, I don't think there's anything after death, sadly.

 

[dontlook]

I don't think I'm scared of death so much as scared of missing out on life. I wish I could live a happy life with my partner, there are things I want to be able to do. But I can't bc it's just not possible and that makes me so sad

I think death will be nothingness, similar to dreamless sleep. It kind of bums me out

 

[drag201]

There is no consciousness after death since you will no longer have a (working) brain. Think about how it was before you were born. It's the same thought process.

 

[Shrooms]

I am going to rewrite what I said to a guy with in short the same thought, Death should not be a "place" in your mind nor a state of being. The thought death cannot make sense to us considering we have no clue what's going to happen. Other than your heart stopping and your internals stop working, we have little to no info on it. So I would "settle" with the fact that you don't know where you're going but you just have to hope it's better than what's happening in your life now. Best of luck.

 

[4everHeartBroken]

There is no continuation of consciousness after Death. After Death is non-existence forever. What am i ? Only this body and this brain. That is tested every time i think about it and look around . i'm always trapped in this brain and body. always have to feed it 3 times a day, groceries , wash it etc. Wherever you go there you are. what else could i be but this brain ? there is no evidence for anything else.

All thinking , consciousness , viewing of the world is created by the brain. you only see the world from the perspective that the eyes transmit light signals to the brain.

After the brain dies it can never create consciousness nor pain which is the best thing to me.

non-existence forever is the best thing to me , no pain no problems no suffering no bad memories ever.

There are libraries of books, papers, web pages that have proof on top of proof of what a human is , what life is and how life originated. There is no one line in a book about the brain that contradicts that a human is just a brain , 30 trillion cells. same for a book on molecular cell biology or evolution. And there is no one single line in any of those books that contradict any line in another of those books . Each line each page each chapter each book further strenghtens the evidence further confirms it . the more you read and think about it and test some of these things you see the evidence is overwhelming , incontrovertible.

There is no line in a book or web page that breaks the evidence nor that contradicts the other sciences. it all fits together . even in a book about molecular cell biology you see how chemical reactions formed simple machines that then formed cells from the tinyest details these machines and chemical processes have been analyzed. They've been working on what is life , what is a human for hundreds of years. all the sciences confirm each other even physics, artificial intelligence , chemistry , cell biology.

I want this (so desperately!) to be accurate! This is exactly what I'm hoping for after death... no more life, no more suffering.

 

[I_go_in]

What was it like for the 13 billion years before consciousness emerged from your brain? Sort of like that.

There is no continuation of consciousness after Death. After Death is non-existence forever. What am i ? Only this body and this brain. That is tested every time i think about it and look around . i'm always trapped in this brain and body. always have to feed it 3 times a day, groceries , wash it etc. Wherever you go there you are. what else could i be but this brain ? there is no evidence for anything else.

All thinking , consciousness , viewing of the world is created by the brain. you only see the world from the perspective that the eyes transmit light signals to the brain.

After the brain dies it can never create consciousness nor pain which is the best thing to me.

non-existence forever is the best thing to me , no pain no problems no suffering no bad memories ever.

There are libraries of books, papers, web pages that have proof on top of proof of what a human is , what life is and how life originated. There is no one line in a book about the brain that contradicts that a human is just a brain , 30 trillion cells. same for a book on molecular cell biology or evolution. And there is no one single line in any of those books that contradict any line in another of those books . Each line each page each chapter each book further strenghtens the evidence further confirms it . the more you read and think about it and test some of these things you see the evidence is overwhelming , incontrovertible.

There is no line in a book or web page that breaks the evidence nor that contradicts the other sciences. it all fits together . even in a book about molecular cell biology you see how chemical reactions formed simple machines that then formed cells from the tinyest details these machines and chemical processes have been analyzed. They've been working on what is life , what is a human for hundreds of years. all the sciences confirm each other even physics, artificial intelligence , chemistry , cell biology.

Fellow physicalist chad. Yeah pretty much everything else is copes from people who are either afraid or want humans to be more important than just another animal. All the "but we don't know exactly how xyz works" is god of the gaps. And trust me I've done decades of existing and learning to say what I am.

 

[legoshi]

I mean, I'd love to spend forever in a fantasy. Kinda like that black mirror episode when the main character was dying and they hooked her consciousness into a machine and she ended up in a younger body and just this virtual reality where other people who died and agreed to stay there instead of opting for nothingness.

If I die and I'm no longer human, how can I suffer? It's a permanent state of euphoria. But yeah, I don't think there's anything after death, sadly.

I want it to be like a dreamless sleep but the ideal of being able of being hooked up to an alternate reality sounds really peaceful. Like in inception when if you get stuck you are in a dream scenario. That sounds pretty peaceful to me. But I really just don't want to have another thought or emotion. So I really hope it's just a dreamless sleep

The main thing from holding me back from committing ctb is an overwhelming fear of what might occur after death. I was raised as a Christian but eventually stopped believing in the existence of God and became an atheist. Despite that, the uncertainty of what lies beyond death continues to haunt me. I have read stories from people who experienced temporary death and were later revived. The accounts that terrified me the most involved the concepts of "hell" or a "black void." The thought of an eternal, dark void is especially terrifying to me. I would much prefer the idea of ceasing to exist entirely over any continuation of awareness or consciousness. Whenever I contemplate taking my own life, I'm not afraid of the act itself or the method. It's the possibility of entering a void or facing an unknown existence that is enough to make me back out everytime. I want to overcome this fear and stop being held back by thoughts of what comes after death.

The thought of what's next scares me also. I don't want to experience anymore thoughts or emotions. I just want to be free of this existence. No more pain, no more sadness, no more nothing. Just free and at rest.

 

[L'absent]

He's waiting for me...I already feel hot!

 

[hixey]

Your response really made me see things in a new light and brought me some comfort about death. Thank you

Honestly, I really hope that's true because I can't stand the thought of going through this again.

That's one of the reasons I became an atheist. I've never understood why God would allow so much suffering for innocent people and not help them if he truly loves each of us as his "own." The saying "God gives his toughest battles to his strongest soldiers" has always felt like total bs to me. The fact that people who are genuinely happy and love life can die, while others who struggle just to survive every day, often end up stuck in that fight, just never seemed fair. I had a grandpa who passed away from heart disease and he was someone who loved life…and I always wondered why it had to be him instead of me, someone who's struggled with my existence since birth. He deserved to live more than I did.

I honestly can't imagine being immortal and living for eternity after experiencing this life, so I think that's great for you When the time comes, I truly hope you find yourself in a better place than where you are now.

I completely get you. I've had so many failed attempts because I lack the courage to actually end my life. I often wish I had the same strength other people do to make those decisions. I hope I can find the courage to move past my fear soon too, because I'm starting to feel like I'm at a breaking point where I just want it all to be over.

I have struggled

I'm an atheist, sometimes agnostic. I don't want to believe there is a god because how cruel would it be that God exists and created humans to suffer? People are tortured to death, die of hunger, die from lack of healthcare in the US, assaulted, get terminal cancer, murdered.

And yet, I think when I die I'll go to my ideal afterlife—no longer able to feel hungry, thirsty, chronic pain, stress, loneliness, mental illnesses. So if I'm dead and alone for eternity, I'd be alright.

But I think I'm deluding myself. I want to ctb but sometimes I think how scary it'd be. It's just a void, pure darkness. Would I even know I ctb? I think cowardice is the reason why I'm still here. I know most people think suicide is cowardly but idk, I kinda disagree. You ignore your survival instincts, willing to feel pain as you die whether it takes seconds, minutes, hours? Sounds brave to me. Anyway, maybe one day my desire to CTB will outweigh the fear of nothingness.

I think of that sometimes too. I've been so so close many times, but I'm a coward and can't just step off. I have some health issues and I'm slowly losing my mind. I wish I was brave enough to just do it. Hopefully soon. But I agree with you.