What is Thantophobia?
Thantophobia is the fear of losing someone you love. It is the misspelling of Thanatophobia. Which is the anxiety of losing someone you love, another meaning for Thanatophobia is the fear of death, a morbid fear of death.
When someone is afraid of death they have Thanatophobia. It is a relatively complicated phobia. Most people are afraid of dying. Some fear being dead while some are afraid of the actual act. The word origin is the Greek word, Thanatos, which means death, and phobia, which means fear.
It is normal for someone to be anxious about their health and also about their family and friends. But, for some people, these matters can grow into more awkward fears and worries. However, if the fear is so prevalent as to affect your daily life, then you might have a full-blown phobia.
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Symptoms
Thantophobia symptoms comprise dread, anxiety, and distress. As treatments, you can talk about your concerns and feelings and concentrate on becoming skilled at refocusing the anxieties.
A phobia is a type of anxiety disorder. There are 3 groups of categorizing phobias according to the Diagnostic and Statical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5).
- Specific Phobias
- Social Phobias
- Agoraphobia
When it comes to Thanatophobia it falls into the specific phobia category. But Thanatophobia is not specifically listed in the DSM-5. There are symptoms of a phobia that could be applied in examining whether someone has a typical fear of death or something more.
It can be a phobia if they,
- A person has an excessive worry or fear of death or dying that gets in the way of their life.
- If a person actively avoids any situation involving death or dying.
- If a person experiences intense anxiety when encountering or thinking of death or dying.
And, an anxiety disorder could produce the following symptoms,
- Sweating
- Shortness of breath
- Racing heart
- Nausea
- Headache
- Fatigue or insomnia
Diagnosis of Thantophobia
Phobias are generally not diagnosed until they have been present for more than six months. There can be many possible causes and complications. It is very important Thanatophobia is diagnosed only by a trained mental health professional. They will try to find out if the fear lasts more than six months and also if the fear is persistent. And also they’ll find out is it reasonable the fear is considering the circumstances.
They can ask questions guiding to help figure out exactly what is going on. They can recognize the symptoms of related disorders and prescribe the patient a suitable course of treatment.
Risk factors of Thantophobia
As indicated by the National Institute of Mental Health, various variables could put somebody in danger of having an anxiety problem. To be specific, encountering unpleasant or horrendous life occasions, genetics, attributes of shyness as a youngster, and other physical medical issues.
Certain people are more inclined to develop the fear of death or feel fear at the idea of dying. The behaviors, habits, and character facts may be the reason for increasing your chance of getting Thanatophobia.
Death anxiety mounts during the 20s of an individual and is decreases when they are older. It is true for both men and women. But when they are in the 50s, women get a secondary point of Thanatophobia.
Individuals with lower stages of modesty are more liable to be anxious about their own death and individuals with higher stages of modesty are more eager to accept the journey of life and consequently, they are less liable to be anxious about their death.
Individuals with more health problems feel greater anxiety and fear when they think about their future. It has been found that considerably high intensities of death worries are likely to happen in individuals who are in a strong relationship with a loving, caring partner. It is more common for women than men.
How to overcome Thantophobia
Having a phobia is depressing. So having Thanatophobia also can be very depressing. You have this fear of losing someone you love. You find it very difficult to communicate your emotions to that person. But it is not necessary to remain depressed because of this phobia forever. You can overcome this fear by following the below steps.
- Be alone for some time. That will give you positive energy. You need to relax and give some time for yourself to be alone and to deal with Thanatophobia. You can have the needed composure to overcome that fear.
- Talking about this with your partner is also can be helpful. You can express your fear and your partner will help you to overcome that fear. Because he or she will be eager to stay with you all along and your fear of losing that person will eventually go away.
- According to Psychologists, Thanatophobia is merely an imagination that you visualize being in a situation not having your partner with you, and that scares you a lot. So you can get pleasure from the company of your partner and get draped in affection. It will ease your phobia.
- Whether you like it or not, people should face the fact that losing dear ones will occur day after day. Life is not always likely to move on your way. So make it clearer. It is not only you who are coping with it. People must learn to benefit from living alone without getting depressed. Someday you’ll lose your dear ones. You have to deal with it. If you accept this truth, you’ll be able to overcome your fear easily.
- You don’t have to have power over everything. It is not possible to prevent each and every person in your life from leaving you at any point in your life. You need to accept the hard reality of people will come and go from your life. You must always have faith in positive living.
Conclusion
Thantophobia is the fear of losing someone you love. It is the misspelling of Thanatophobia. Which is the anxiety of losing someone you love, another meaning for Thanatophobia is the fear of death, a morbid fear of death. It is a very common type of phobia.
But this can be overcome by working on yourself. The above mentions facts will help you overcome this fear.