The Worm at the Core: On the Role of Death in Life

by Sheldon Solomon

Moreover, when self-esteem is undermined, death thoughts come more readily to mind.

in order to prop up their self-esteem. Moreover,

Research shows that self-awareness—for example, when you see your image in a mirror or notice someone looking at you, and you become aware that you are thinking about yourself—brings death thoughts more readily to mind. Consequently, people are especially eager to avoid focusing on themselves after thinking about death.

Overeating, excessive drinking, chain-smoking, and long stints in front of the television all reduce self-awareness. Nothing like a jumbo pizza washed down with a case of Budweiser and topped off by a pack of Marlboros in the midst of (another) James Bond movie marathon to muffle self-consciousness.

Being “comfortably numb” from drugs and alcohol is a great way to banish death thoughts from consciousness, but not so great for staying healthy and alive.

death fears can also pose challenges to mental health.

PTSD

Things seem to happen in slow motion. They feel disconnected from their body as they watch themselves from a distance, as if they are in a dream or at a movie. They feel confused and unable to clearly make out what’s going on. In psychological terms, this state is known as “dissociation” because the person “dis-associates” himself or herself from the dreadful encounter. For

Thereafter, they feel perpetually endangered and are always anxious and on the lookout for hazards. They repeatedly relive the original trauma in vivid flashbacks while awake and terrifying nightmares while asleep. To

1990 book Darkness Visible,

People who are depressed are generally dissatisfied with life and see little value in either themselves or the world in which they live. They tend to dwell on gloomy and death-related thoughts that are likely to prolong and exacerbate their state of depression, and they have difficulties perceiving purpose and meaning in life.

People who commit suicide often genuinely believe that they will outlive their own death.

she would try to bring the client down to a less grand perspective on life by encouraging the person to focus on what matters to him in his life.

Greek philosopher Epicurus

Lucretius

Moreover, to avoid self-awareness and the coincident recognition of their finitude, people squander their lives in trivial pursuits, or are obsessed with greedily accumulating money and stuff or

blindly lusting for power and honor. Such insatiable desires, Lucretius contended, make humans prone to unhappiness and profoundly dangerous.

THE EPICUREAN CURE