How to cope with the very moment when death will come for you?

Hi deadymouse,

If this really is something that bothers you, perhaps you could discuss it with your GP? They should know what your options are and can probably advice you better than random strangers on the internet.

If you plan to kill yourself with a gun, drag a billionaire down with you. Make the world a better place for the next to come.

I will probably do the bathtub special

Whatever way death comes for you, take comfort in the fact that it happens to every one eventually, and has happened to countless others for a very long time. It's a certainty, and it's a design, so it's definitely not something to be afraid of. As for the suffering part, that's just the human experience. Your brain is more powerful than you think if you know how to control your thoughts. Mind over matter, everything happens at the mind.

You seem to have misunderstood the question a little, I meant when you know for sure that you are about to die, in a day, an hour or even a minute from a heart attack, for example, or from hunger, but you don't want to suffer from this, you want to make this process easier.

Personally, was considering a potent opioid overdose. Bliss out and stop breathing. The end.

So you're saying that I don't have to worry too much because the brain has enough masculinity to admit its end? It sounds logical, but how it will actually be?

Best option is while you're young do everything to ensure your country or place you live has an assisted dieing legislation that allows healthcare professionals help you when the time comes.

The drugs they can offer let you just drift off to sleep and you don't wake up again.

To quote Hamlet, "There is nothing either good or bad but thinking makes it so."

Everyone has to do things they don't want to, and dying is just one of those things. But wisdom lies in knowing that it's not the thing itself that hurts you, but the wanting.

In the comic "The Sandman" the personification of Death comes for a wizard who has managed to avoid her for 5,000 years.

"Well, I lasted 5,000 years," he tells her. "You must be pretty impressed."

She shakes her head.

"You got exactly the same thing as everyone else. One lifetime."

Worrying about dying is a waste of time. Make the most of your life.

::: spoiler CW: hypothetical discussion of suicide and death

Depends on the circumstances, time frame, and probabilities of different amounts of suffering. I would probably optimize for maximum expected personal comfort subject to financial and physical constraints, and I would probably come up with a "ripcord" (fast suicide plan with all required resources and practice deploying it) in case things get too intense. Personally, I'm more afraid of the "going" than being "gone".

Or should I humble myself and go through suffering before I die?

Not unless you want to, for some reason. Choosing the manner of your demise is the ultimate act of bodily autonomy. It shouldn't depend on your culture's preconceived notions of death.

:::

Everyone dies. Only certainty of life.

As part of my job in the hospital I often interact with dying people and their families.
Palliative care - caring for people in the last period of their lives, in the UK focuses on patient experience and patient priorities. We generally aim for as pain free and as comfortable an end as possible and have medication which can usually make this a possibility.

The dying process for most people is a lot like falling asleep. They get more and more sleepy and spend less time awake. Eventually they go to sleep and the breathing starts changing with bigger gaps between breaths and eventually the breathing stops.

If it's done well it's a peaceful process with minimal pain and agitation.

If this is something you are concerned about it might be worth talking to your doctor about it. We have the RESPECT process in the UK which is a guided conversation about things important to the patient around the end of their life with medical recommendations for what is appropriate (not every treatment is appropriate for every patient).

I don't know where you're getting the masculinity thing from. I think what the person was saying was to try to make peace with the way life has always been for all living things. We all come into existence, and then we all return to the universe.

Were you scared before you were born? Of course not. Death is the same as that, it's nothing to be afraid of. It's what unifies every single living thing.

if you define life as the ability to experience the physical universe, then death is the inability to do so. Therefore, you cannot experience death.

I would suggest dealing with your death anxiety through counseling so it doesn't consume your life.