Although the fact that the end of life exists makes every minute of our time valuable, the truth is that almost nobody wants to die and a large part of people have some respect and fear of death.

However, for some people the fear of death and of dead bodies and everything related to them becomes a real phobia, which causes them great suffering and prevents them from living life to the full. We are talking about necrophobia, about which this article is about .

What is necrophobia?

Necrophobia is the phobia of death, and especially of corpses, which is an incapacitating condition that generates a high level of anxiety and discomfort . As a phobia, it implies the existence of an irrational and disproportionate fear (something generally recognized by those who suffer from it) with respect to the risk that a stimulus or situation represents, in this case death and everything related to it.

Exposure to the feared or even the possibility of encountering something related to it generates intense levels of anxiety, which can lead to the appearance of somatic symptoms such as tachycardia, hyperventilation, tremors or excessive sweating. It can even generate panic attacks, in which, in addition to the above, there can be fear of having a heart attack, of losing one’s mind or of losing control of one’s body. For all this, the subject tends to avoid all those situations that remind him or are associated with the phobic stimulus.

Necrophobia is a specific phobia that can be related to fear of harm, blood, and injections. It is also often called thanatophobia, although there may be nuances that make them not completely synonymous: although both fears are of death and include the fear of dying, thanatophobia is usually more general and focused on the fear of dying oneself , while necrophobia is usually more linked to the fear of corpses, burials and coffins.

Symptoms

Although fear of death is common, necrophobia as such is not excessively common. It is a condition that can significantly affect the person who suffers it. Even if we are not constantly surrounded by stimuli that remind us of death or of dead bodies, the subject will tend to avoid situations and places that are linked to him.

Thus, some stimuli that can trigger anxiety and that those affected by this phobia will avoid include cemeteries, celebrations such as Halloween or even museums that have exhibited mummies or skeletons. Films, novels and works of art related to death or lifeless bodies , such as those of horror or the black genre, will also be avoided. Even more relevant than this could be the avoidance of hospitals, something that can greatly damage the health of the subject if he or she needs medical assistance. In severe cases, this could lead the person to avoid even leaving his or her home, for fear of the possibility of dying or finding some type of corpse.

Likewise, for people with this phobia the fact or thought of growing old is a great source of anguish, as age is linked to a greater possibility of dying . This can contribute to extreme attitudes towards staying young or even avoiding old people.

Causes and origin of fear of the dead

The causes of necrophobia are not fully known and are not unique, with multiple factors and variables influencing its occurrence. Before considering them, it should be noted that, as we have already mentioned, the fear of death is natural, since even at a biological level we are programmed to try to survive.

Furthermore, it is common that behind the origin of necrophobia is the experience of some aversive event that has conditioned the reaction to death or to the corpses . Among these we can find finding a corpse (whether human or animal) in childhood, or experiencing the loss of a loved one in a traumatic way. Another cause may derive from the knowledge that we are all going to die sooner or later: the corpse is a memory of one’s own mortality, which makes one empathize with it and causes panic that it will end up like the body that is being seen. It can also be influenced by the presence of parental models or the environment that are highly fearful of the idea of death, acquiring reactions or ways of understanding death that are magnified or extreme.

Also, as with phobias of animals such as spiders and snakes, fear of death and dead bodies can be influenced by phylogenetic inheritance: bodies rot, smell, and over time bacteria and organisms that can cause disease begin to grow on them, making it easier for people who would not be in regular contact with the bodies without any treatment to survive.

Treatment for this phobia

As with all phobias, necrophobia is a condition that can be treated and overcome successfully through psychological therapy . Firstly, the patient must be analysed together with the vision and meaning given to the death, the possible existence of traumatic events, the consequences that the necrophobia is having on his life or why he considers that the phobia has arisen.

Among the most effective therapies we can find exposure and systematic desensitization . In both cases the subject should be progressively exposed to a hierarchy of different anxiety generating situations, ordered from least to most.

While in simple exposure the subject must remain in the situation until the anxiety subsides by itself, in the case of desensitization the person must perform a complementary activity incompatible with the anxiety (such as relaxation techniques). The aim is to make the anxiety controllable, so that when encountering the feared stimulus the subject does not need to run away or avoid the activities of his day-to-day life. Some examples of stimuli or situations to which they might be exposed might include watching horror movies, reading stories or descriptions of sensations in people with near-death experiences, trying on zombie or skeleton costumes, going to a cemetery, or going to a wake.

Cognitive behavioural therapy is also a recommended resource , in order to analyse and subsequently try to modify the beliefs, biases and dysfunctional thoughts that cause the problem to have originated and/or to be maintained. Another technique that enjoys some popularity in this type of phobia is hypnotherapy. It is also possible to use anxiolytic drugs in specific situations that generate anxiety (for example when attending a funeral), although this would not solve the problem.

Bibliographic references:

  • American Psychiatric Association (2013), Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (5th ed.), Arlington: American Psychiatric Publishing.
  • Edmund J.B. (2005). The Anxiety & Phobia Workbook, 4th ed. New Harbinger Publications.