Taphophobia: how to get rid of the fear of funerals and the fear of being buried alive

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Since ancient times, everything related to death has always caused fear, anxiety and even panic in people. The fear of ritual objects and sudden cardiac arrest is incomparable with the horror that arises at the thought of the possibility of being buried alive. Stories about such cases only increase confusion, giving rise to taphephobia in people - the fear of being buried alive.

What is taphophobia

Taphophobia is an irrational, panicky fear of funerals and related paraphernalia (wreaths, cemeteries, coffins, graves). A taphophobe will never go to the funeral of even a loved one. He avoids gloomy films and news reports, and avoids funeral parlors and shops where you can see something reminiscent of a funeral.

Psychologists distinguish several types of taphophobia:

• fear of being buried alive;
• fear of death;
• fear of hearse;
• fear of torment and pain;
• fear of funerals, cemeteries, coffins, dead people;
• fear of falling into a lethargic sleep and then waking up in a coffin.

The fear of being buried alive became widespread in the 18th-19th centuries. And this was due to the increasing number of cases of medical errors, when a living person was declared dead. Since then, medicine has come a lot further, so it is very strange that the fear of being buried alive is still present in our society. Perhaps it's something else, and not just a lack of trust in doctors.

Interesting! Taphophobia is similar to necrophobia - fear of the dead. Sometimes these terms are identified. Taphophobia is also associated with claustrophobia.

How do you know if you have taphophobia?

Taphophobia is interesting because the symptoms of fear are individual for each person. However, some common features can be identified.

Here are the main ones:

• Sleep disturbance. Insomnia or nightmares, too light or restless sleep. Why this? Darkness, silence and loneliness are not only about sleeping in a bed, but also about a person’s position in a coffin. Such similarities on a subconscious level do not allow a sick person to relax fully. This also includes the fear of falling asleep and not waking up.
• Tachycardia.
• High blood pressure.
• Pulsation in temples.
• Headache leading to migraine.
• Fever or, conversely, chills.
• Noise in the head.

Reasons for fear of funerals

Fear of being buried alive - what is this phobia? More often it is associated with psychological trauma or fear after watching the film of the same name. If it is not the person’s impressionability that is to blame, but trauma, then we can talk about the experience of violence, torture, and ill-treatment.

Reasons for fear of other people's funerals:

1. Childhood trauma. Perhaps the child was frightened by the funeral procession, tears and screams of friends and relatives of the deceased. It is difficult for children to understand all this, so it is better not to take them to the funeral.
2. Trauma experienced in childhood or adulthood associated with the death of a loved one . In this case, funeral paraphernalia triggers unpleasant memories.
3. Fear of old age and death. Associated with this is the fear of death itself.
4. Fear of losing control of the situation. Some people, due to their personality traits, need to control everything at all times. The very thought that they will find themselves in conditions of helplessness causes a panic attack.
5. Poor medical training, suggestibility. Some people are afraid that they will be buried alive by mistake, for example, by confusing clinical death or coma with real death.
6. Fear of becoming a victim of blackmail, someone's cruel joke. Or the fear of being in the wrong place at the wrong time, of becoming a victim of a maniac. This reason is relevant for suspicious people with a pessimistic vision of the world and for those who are afraid that specific people may take revenge on them in this way.

In adulthood, the fear of being buried alive can develop due to stress and exhaustion, as well as violence. For example, if a person was tortured, beaten, or was forced to dig his own grave, threatened, thrown into a hole, etc.

Interesting! According to psychoanalytic theory, the fear of funerals and the fear of being buried alive are associated with psychotrauma received during fetal development. Psychologists are confident that the child understands and feels if he was unwanted by his parents, if they wanted to kill him. In the future, this may take the form of a phobia.

At-risk groups

Suggestible, suspicious people with a developed imagination are at risk. Also at risk are all those who have experienced trauma associated with a funeral or violence. Psychologists note that taphophobia is more common in men than in women.

Interesting! The fear of being buried alive haunted Edgar Allan Poe and Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol. Strange, isn't it? Considering that both writers often turned to mysticism in their works, especially Poe. He even wrote a book with the same title – “Buried Alive.”

Signs and Symptoms of Funeral Fear

As with other phobias, fear of funerals has three leading symptoms:

• anxiety that grows upon contact with an object of fear (coffins, wreaths, graves, etc.) or when talking about it, viewing pictures and videos;
• avoidance reaction (a person tries to change the topic, run away, hide);
• somatic reactions in response to mental stress.

In addition, most taphophobes suffer from nightmares and other sleep problems (frequent awakening and difficulty falling asleep, insomnia). Dreams are distinguished by the realistic sensations. After them, a person wakes up in a cold sweat, his heart beats very quickly, his breathing becomes labored.

This is largely due not so much to psychological stress as to the physical executions that the taphophobe inflicts on himself. Many of those who are afraid of being buried alive are afraid to take a horizontal position and fall asleep. Therefore, they either deliberately deprive themselves of sleep or try to take a nap in a standing, sitting or other uncomfortable position. Many taphophobes are keen on studying medical literature and the science of dreams.

A taphophobe is afraid to fall asleep because it seems to him that he may not wake up. And even a medical certificate of health does not help to relieve obsessive thoughts. In advanced stages, before going to bed, a person connects devices that measure blood pressure and pulse. While awake, the taphophobe is also overly concerned about his health. The inevitable somatic reactions frighten him even more.

Somatic symptoms of taphophobia:

• nausea,
• vomit,
• headache,
• dizziness,
• dry mouth,
• appetite disorders,
• chills,
• sweating,
• tremor,
• tachycardia,
• arrhythmia,
• pressure surges,
• pre-fainting state.

Taphophobes try to avoid loneliness, especially in bed. If there is another person nearby, then the taphophobe calms down a little - if they help him with anything, they will push him away. However, this does not help to calm down completely. Then the taphophobe comes up with protective rituals and rituals. For example, he keeps an audio diary or leaves verbal instructions about what needs to be done before burying him (how many days to wait, what medical examinations to conduct, how often to check the body if the person is declared dead), writes a suicide note.

Some taphophobes even bother making a special coffin, for example, one that can be used to send some kind of signal to the top; they order a coffin with a video camera inside or with ventilation.

Note! The taphophobe is very afraid of losing consciousness, but the more he is afraid of this, the higher the risk that this will happen.

Main signs of taphophobia

Signs of taphophobia can be divided into somatic and behavioral. Let's look at each group in more detail.

Somatic symptoms of taphophobia

Somatic manifestations depend on the type of nervous system and the intensity of the response to stress. The list of symptoms varies from person to person, but the most common are the following:

• sweating;
• eating disorders (bulimia, anorexia);
• aggression;
• obsessive thoughts;
• pressure surges;
• cardiopalmus;
• dyspnea;
• headache;
• fainting state;
• vomit;
• nausea;
• muscle pain and tension;
• stool disorder;
• absent-mindedness;
• decreased performance;
• chronic fatigue.

Atypical behavioral reactions

The patient is constantly prepared for sudden death, because of this he prepares a lot of information in case of his death. For example, he writes a suicide note, draws up a will, leaves messages, and gives instructions. He gives this information to those who will bury him in the event of sudden death.

In a panic attack, the patient may furiously ask to be sure of his death before burial. If a person lives alone, then before going to bed he writes a note with instructions and instructions for those who find him. As a rule, a person with a fear of being buried alive asks not to perform an autopsy, to carry out tests that will confirm death, to wait several weeks before burial.

Some taphophobes exhaust themselves with visits to doctors in order to exclude the possibility of falling into lethargic sleep. No matter how strange it may be, they are looking for information about real cases of burial alive, looking at scary pictures and videos.

How to get rid of taphophobia

Most often, psychoanalysis, hypnosis, cognitive behavioral psychotherapy, and gestalt therapy are used to treat the fear of being buried alive. Sometimes free association and desensitization techniques are used. In especially severe cases, medication is indicated: tranquilizers, antidepressants, antipsychotics. But the main method of treatment is the work of a psychologist. The specialist helps the client work through the trauma and realize the irrationality of fears.

What is the danger of being afraid of funerals?

Taphophobia is exhausting, leads to exhaustion and the development of secondary mental disorders. Without treatment, the taphophobe's condition will constantly worsen. Due to problems with sleep, hallucinations arise, fear of loneliness develops, and depressive tendencies arise. Taphophobia prevents a person from living, working, relaxing, loving, and creating. A person becomes a hostage to his fear and gradually loses touch with reality.

Treatment of taphophobia

Psychotherapy is the most reliable method of treating anxiety-phobic disorders. Various psychotechniques can be used to treat taphophobia. It all depends on the degree of neglect of the disorder and personality type. To correct anxiety, methods such as:

• Free association and desensitization.
• Neurolinguistic programming.
• Cognitive behavioral psychotherapy.

One way or another, if obsessive anxiety constantly bothers you or your loved ones, you should immediately contact a specialist for psychological help.

Independent work on your mental state is no less important. In the case of taphophobia, the following measures will be effective:

• Reading, listening, watching life-affirming, positive books, audio recordings, music, films.
• Sports, active recreation, walks in nature.
• Searching and studying information about your anxiety disorder, looking at your fears objectively.
• Re-evaluating your life, daily activities.
• Minimizing situations that provoke attacks of fear (avoid staying in closed dark spaces, in too cold or hot, stuffy rooms, alone)
• Conversations with people suffering from a similar problem both live and on social networks, on forums, providing mutual psychological support.

It should be remembered that anxiety-phobic disorder can be successfully treated; any fears can be corrected with timely contact with a qualified psychotherapist.

We hope that the treatment methods listed in the article will help you cope with taphophobia or prevent its development. Many people experience all kinds of fears and phobias. Let's help them together! To do this, just repost this post on a social network. You can also leave your opinion on the article or discuss it with other readers below.