The fact is, your brain gnaws anxiously on the bone of death more often than you think, but the ongoing operation of proximal and distal defenses keeps you from realizing it. So instead of walking around worrying about dying, proximal defenses first distract you with matters like what you want to eat for lunch and who will be the next contestant to be eliminated from American Idol. Distal defenses then direct you to think about how right your beliefs are or how much you are accomplishing.
