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	<review id="15486145">
    <user id="709004">
    <name><![CDATA[Max]]></name>
    <location><![CDATA[Culver City, CA]]></location>        
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      <rating>3</rating>
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  <recommended_for><![CDATA[Mortals]]></recommended_for>
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  <read_at>Fri Feb 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008</read_at>
  <date_added>Fri Feb 15 08:28:26 -0800 2008</date_added>
  <date_updated>Fri Mar 28 07:56:27 -0700 2008</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[I've experienced death-terror since I was about 9. It usually strikes as I am falling asleep, a heart-racing panic attack that is triggered by the idea that one day I will be dead and there is nothing I can do about it. I heard Dr. Yalom on NPR and I immediately ordered his book - it was at first a relief to know that I was not alone in this terror. Yalom presents three ways to address death-terror: the argument for symmetry, the irrational logic, and attachment through connections with others. The first two he attributes to the philosopher Epicurus; it is irrational to fear your own death because you will not be consciously aware of your state. The argument for symmetry states that the universe was here and find before you were born, it will continue to function without you. Neither of these address my terror in that it is my ego that fears the lack of consciousness, therefore his irrational argument actually is the root of my fear. The argument for symmetry doesn't help me because I don't care about the state of the universe without me - it is consciousness and my living in the world that I find precious. Take me away, and to hell with the world. It is Yalom's final argument that has been somewhat helpful, and something I discovered on my own. He posits that making deep, emotional connections with people allow your life to &quot;ripple&quot; in its effect on others. That is why I try and do something, every day, that has a positive effect on my life and other's lives. As I fall asleep I evaluate my day and my actions and it does help to alleviate my death terror. Yalom's book is a quick and easy read, mostly anecdotes about his own patients and their sessions together. The final chapter are ideas for therapists to address death terror, but I found his overall tone to be too causal and surface about the deep causes of a very real phobia. Yalom's clearly a gifted psychiatrist, but more insight into the causality, and a more scientific approach would have made this book better.]]></body>
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