Too many people passing, not helping the anxiety

[TinyTina]

So 2016 has so far been an awful year and it's only freaking April. Just seems like you can't turn on the TV, radio or browse the internet without seeing that someone has passed away! I can't believe we lost Prince!! Last week it was another person and 2 weeks ago it was 2 more people!!!

It's driving me crazy because I'm afraid that I have some form of a disease and when they die I start to think I have or will get what they had and I'll be next!! I'm really scared and I'm trying to get my mind on other things but it's so hard when all this seems to be everywhere!!

I've only been a hypochondriac for about 2 months but I'm already sick of it. I hate freaking over every little thing!

[ServerError]

Certainly in my case, nobody can make me feel better about the fact we all have to die.

However, the recent spate of celebrity deaths is another thing causing some people with anxiety to react irrationally. People die all the time. It's easy to be bombarded with the news of celebrity deaths and feel as if death has turned up the heat. In reality, death is just doing what it always does - taking people when it's their time.

Personally, I refuse to allow this inevitable outcome - this consequence of being born - to rob me of enjoying my life while I have my health. That doesn't mean I no longer have anxiety, but if I try to fight the fact that something's going to take me one day, I'll waste the time I have and probably also damage my connections to those I care about.

I have no idea if this will help you, but I hope you can find some sort of peace and acceptance and are able to get on with enjoying your time here.

[MyNameIsTerry]

However, the recent spate of celebrity deaths is another thing causing some people with anxiety to react irrationally. People die all the time. It's easy to be bombarded with the news of celebrity deaths and feel as if death has turned up the heat. In reality, death is just doing what it always does - taking people when it's their time.

Exactly.

We have to remember that the number of celebrities in the world make up the tiniest % of the real population. "Normal" members of society are being born and dying everyday.

Think of it the other way, how many celebrity births do you hear of? Now think about how many births are actually happening.

So, when a bunch of celebrities die at similar times, it's not an omen or a sign of anything, it's just coincidence.

Why aren't people feeling their anxiety spiked by the many thousands of people dying each day? Because they are not being reported to us. But they are there.

Coming to terms with the reality will mean those celebrity deaths will mean very little in terms of anxiety because they are like grains of sand on a beach.

We also have to remember that a lot of these people are dying at older ages, when risk factors increase, since that's just how life works.

[ServerError]

I think it might also be relevant that this is the baby boomer generation (in a lot of cases). This was a generation that gave us so many famous people all at once. I'm just speculating, but I think it's possibly a case that there are simply more famous people of an older age than ever before, and of course more access to information and news.

[TinyTina]

Thanks for the responses. Reading my original post I guess I made it sound like that celebs only matter. Of course reading the news from around the world is scary too.

[MyNameIsTerry]

No, that's not how I read it. It's just that celebrities get focused on, not that they matter more.

I know what you mean about the news. I used to find wars, civil unrest or a political change triggering.

[Mojo61]

I've come right away from things like Facebook and I don't watch the news. There is nothing we can do about these celebrities dying, it is all part of life and we are ruining our own lives by obsessing about it. Life is short, why waste it worrying about something out of your control? Easier said than done I know, but I'm trying my hardest not to fixate on things like that at the moment.