I\u2019m sure you\u2019ve all had that conversation with your friends; it\u2019s late at night, you\u2019re sleepy, and someone asks the question… \u201cWhat happens when we die?\u201d or, \u201cWhat do you think happens after we die?\u201d Maybe the conversation meanders into reincarnation or rebirth; maybe you muse over religion. I set out to understand and categorize what high schoolers think about death and why. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Before we dive into their responses, take a moment to reflect on your own beliefs and fears about death. Here are the questions that I asked fellow teenagers to answer in any way they saw fit. There are no wrong answers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
First thoughts on death itself were scattered across the board. Death was a great motivator, Savion described it as, \u201ca good way to remind yourself how limited your time is.\u201d For Alma, it is a reason to \u201cdo all the things (she) want(s) to do.\u201d Others, however, worried about the pain that death brings in its wake. Natalia said, \u201cI try not to think about it much just because it makes me sad to think of losing people close to me or having to see others suffering because of it.\u201d Some felt pretty neutral about it, as Finn pointed out, death is \u201cinevitable,\u201d \u201cIt\u2019s just something that happens to everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Fear of death, or \u201cdeath anxiety\u201d is called \u201cthanatophobia\u201d, which, if you happen to be familiar with Greek mythology is derived from the name of the ancient Greek god of death \u201cThanatos\u201d and \u201cPhobos,\u201d or \u201cfear.\u201d According to Dr. Robert Kastenbaum, \u201cthe majority of individuals are afraid of death\u201d(Cohut) but most do not experience high enough levels of fear to be classified as having thanatophobia. Most interestingly though, he found that \u201cYoung people are just as likely to experience death anxiety as elderly people\u201d(Cohut). <\/p>\n\n\n\n
No one I spoke with expressed enough concern about death to fall into the \u2018death anxiety\u2019 range: <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Alma said, \u201cI am not afraid of death\u2026.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Savion said, \u201cUsually, I am not afraid of death\u2026.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Natalia said, \u201cI\u2019m personally not too afraid of death\u2026.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Savion went as far as to call death \u201cthe ultimate relief\u201d but most said they simply tried not to think about the end too much. While some were concerned about how their death would affect their family and friends, others simply wanted to know that they would be remembered. Alma said, she \u201cwould like to have a very interesting life and death story….like a crazy murder or coincidence or just some very funny\/rare cause of death,\u201d and Finn said, he wouldn\u2019t fear death \u201cif I die of old age after a life of accomplishments.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The thing that really makes us humans fascinated by death is the unknown. We simply can\u2019t stand not being certain of anything- and yet, with death, there is simply no way to know what comes next. People have \u201ccome back from death,\u201d in which their hearts stopped beating, sometimes for as long as an hour before being revived. These individuals claim vastly different things, if anything, about what they experienced during that time. Judy Branch, a journalist who wrote a book called Glimpsing Heaven, The Stories and Science of Life After Death <\/em>told a reporter for National Geographic, \u201cEverybody I interviewed deviated from the traditional theological views. They didn’t see angels necessarily. They don’t float in heaven. It’s not some happy-clappy area of the universe. It’s far more complicated\u2014and interesting\u2014than that\u201d(Worral). Some look down on the earth from above or seem to view their loved ones going about their daily activities; others simply see an unearthly light. There is no \u201ctruth\u201d to believe in about experiences after death, which can be either comforting or terrifying to people. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Most people whom I asked about their beliefs said that while they hoped they would become a ghost, be reincarnated, or have some form of afterlife, they actually believed that there was, as Alma put it, \u201clogically nothing.\u201d Finn said that he believed simply, \u201cyou are gone\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n I wondered why those that I interviewed tended to believe that nothing is the \u201clogical\u201d answer to death when there are so many different theories that came up in their interviews: reincarnation, \u201csome sort of spectator mode in the universe\u201d, spiritual afterlives, ghosts, the list goes on. I was particularly interested in why people held their specific beliefs about death, and I was not disappointed. Alma said that \u201cso many people have ghost stories I think they could be real.\u201d Natalia said comfortingly that she \u201cbelieve(s) there\u2019s more to life than what we currently think there is.\u201d Finn, ever the scientist, pointed out that he thinks there is nothing after death because \u201cI don\u2019t see any evidence to show otherwise.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Maybe, as Savion put it, \u201cI guess I haven’t seen enough to say whether or not there is anything after death.\u201d We are still young; perhaps as we age and gain more life experiences, we will be able to more confidently believe one thing or another about what occurs after death.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I felt it was necessary to include a nod to the pandemic we\u2019ve all been immersed in for over a year now. Generally speaking, if COVID-19 didn\u2019t have a high mortality rate<\/a>, it wouldn\u2019t really be an issue at all. Every precaution, mask, extra sanitization, and canceled event is charged with the threat of death. Alma said that COVID, \u201cmade me realize how close to death I could be at any given moment, which is a good thing because it makes me live a more interesting and carefree life.\u201d To many, however, the threat seemed rather indirect. Natalia said, \u201cI\u2019ve been pretty lucky to live where I do, not having to have anyone close to me get it, so I haven’t really been affected by COVID much, which in turn has made me not dwell too much on the death factor of it.\u201d Finn said that he did not think of death more because of COVID-19, but the pandemic had given him time to dwell on \u201creligion and existence in a broader sense,\u201d while Savion expressed a similar experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I was pleasantly surprised by the attitude that everyone who answered my questions approached the topic of death with. Truthfully I had been expecting some very morbid answers. It seems that as young people, we are concerned mostly with what we want to accomplish in our lives before death reaches us. As for what occurs afterward, the most thoughtful response came from Savion, who said that \u201chopefully whatever happens after death is just what each individual wants to happen after death so that way everyone is happy, or as happy as you can be thinking about everyone you know eventually dying.\u201d Perhaps we will all live to see some scientific miracle and be able to choose between death and immortality, perhaps we will discover the true afterlife and have certainty, but for now, it seems we will simply have to wait, wonder, and believe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Cohut, Maria, Ph.D. \u201cDeath anxiety: The fear that drives us?\u201d Medical News Today, August 11, 2017. https:\/\/www.medicalnewstoday.com\/articles\/318895<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\nCitations<\/h2>\n\n\n\n