Taphophobia: how to cure

Taphophobia

(from ancient Greek τάφος - coffin, grave and φόβος - fear) - fear of funerals and funeral supplies, as well as fear of being buried alive; one of the basic phobias of the human psyche. In medical and psychiatric literature, it is traditionally included in a number of other names indicating similar mental disorders - claustrophobia (fear of closed spaces), nyctophobia (fear of the dark), etc.[1]

Back in 1772, the Duke of Mecklenburg introduced a mandatory delay of funerals until the third day after death to prevent possible burial alive. Soon this measure was adopted in a number of European countries, and it was approved, for example, by the philosopher Moses Mendelssohn. In the 19th century, the fear of being buried alive became a fairly common phobia. This state of affairs led to the fact that, from the second half of the 19th century until 1934, special “safe coffins” equipped with means of rescue for those buried alive were patented and produced in the countries of Europe and North America. These means would allow the buried person to mistakenly signal to other people or to get out of the grave on their own. In addition, some crypts were equipped with similar devices. However, there is no evidence that these life-saving measures actually helped anyone.

A number of famous personalities experienced the fear of being buried alive. For example, Gogol[2] and Tsvetaeva were afraid of being buried alive and specifically emphasized this - Gogol in “Selected Passages from Correspondence with Friends”, Tsvetaeva in her suicide note before suicide[3] (a widespread legend that Gogol was actually buried alive - during exhumation, his body was found lying prostrate in a coffin - untenable [2]). A famous victim of the fear of being buried alive was Alfred Nobel, for whom this fear was “hereditary” - his father, inventor Emmanuel Nobel, was also afraid of being buried alive and even invented one of the first “safety coffins”. The British writer Wilkie Collins also suffered from this phobia, and in such a strong form that every night he left a “suicide note” in which he asked the reader to carefully verify his death if he did not wake up. For the same reason, the philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer ordered his funeral to wait five days after death, as a result of which the philosopher’s funeral was hampered by the smell of decomposition of the body.

Manchester resident Hannah Beswick, a wealthy Englishwoman who experienced a pathological fear of being mistakenly buried alive [4] (and she had reasons for this: her brother was almost buried alive by mistake), became something of a legend. In accordance with her will, Hannah Beswick's body was embalmed after her death in 1758 and kept without burial for more than a hundred years "to be periodically examined for signs of life."[5] During its existence, Hannah Beswick's mummy became widely known as the Manchester Mummy, being an exhibit at the Manchester Natural History Society museum for several decades. It was not until 1868, after Hannah Beswick was declared "irretrievably and undoubtedly dead", that her body was finally interred.

Signs

Signs associated with the phobia of being buried alive are expressed in different ways. There is a group of symptoms that appear most often:

Night sleep disturbances in the form of insomnia, nightmares, taking an uncomfortable sleeping position.

• A person may be afraid of going to bed. The horizontal position evokes associations with a coffin, so the patient takes an uncomfortable position to fall asleep. This is a kind of psychological barrier between oneself and the deceased.
• Obsessive thoughts that one might not wake up haunt the patient in the dark. He tries not to be alone, and is sure that another person will be able to wake him up and save him from deep sleep. The presence of people nearby relieves the taphophobe from anxiety and panic, but does not relieve the manifestations of the phobia.
• Nightmares are directly related to the phobia. A person dreams that he is being buried alive, he feels boards and crumbling earth. After such a dream, suffocation, rapid heartbeat, a feeling of anxiety and severe fear remain for a long time.

Obsessive actions:

• The pathological fear of being buried alive forces a person to constantly talk about how to verify his death.
• The patient leaves notes before going to bed, records a video and audio message to people who find him sleeping. In them, he advises not to touch his body for several days, not to perform an autopsy, and to convene a council of doctors to confirm death.
• The patient often visits somnologists (doctors who treat sleep disorders).
• Using hardware techniques, it checks brain activity during sleep.
• A person with taphophobia studies the phases of sleep, records all changes and deviations.

Physiological manifestations are similar to those of any other irrational fear. They depend on the individual characteristics of the person, the strength of the nervous system, and the reaction to stress:

• excessive sweating;
• overeating or lack of appetite;
• obsessive thoughts;
• aggressiveness;
• blood pressure surges;
• increased heart rate;
• loss of consciousness;
• dizziness;
• dyspnea;
• feeling of a “lump in the throat”;
• indigestion;
• muscle pain;
• memory impairment.

Taphophobes refuse to attend the funerals of people they know well, colleagues, and friends. They are afraid of undergoing a panic attack and demonstrating inappropriate behavior to others. This is due to the inability to control one’s own condition.

Symptoms

Symptoms of taphophobia can vary. They have their own characteristics for each person. But it is worth highlighting those that appear most often:

Sleep disorders

This may include insomnia, nightmares, sleeping in an awkward position and other sleep-related problems. Let's look at them in more detail.

A person may be afraid to go to bed; he associates the horizontal position of the body with a coffin. In this regard, he may take uncomfortable sleeping positions (for example, sleep sitting, standing, or with his legs raised high), thus putting a psychological barrier between himself and the deceased.

The thought that he might not wake up haunts him, especially in the dark. He tries to surround himself with people; it seems to him that if there is a person nearby, he will be able to wake him up, stir him up, and save him from deep sleep. The presence of people nearby creates a feeling of safety, but does not relieve all the symptoms of a phobia.

Nightmares are usually directly related to the phobia. A man dreams that he is being buried alive. He can feel not only the lack of air, but also the boards under him, as well as the earth that is pouring onto the coffin. It is very difficult for a person to recover from such nightmares. Therefore, for a long time after such a dream, a feeling of anxiety, suffocation, palpitations and all-encompassing fear persists.

Obsessive actions

These can be conversations, notes, video recordings, audio recordings, diaries and other behavioral manifestations.

Shackled by the fear that he will be buried alive, the person constantly talks about how to make sure of his death. He can write suicide notes every time he goes to bed. It could also be video and audio messages to those who find him fast asleep. Such messages most often contain requests not to touch the body for several days (and sometimes even weeks); verify death through a consultation of doctors and under no circumstances allow an autopsy of the body.

Frequent visits to doctors, especially somnologists, is also a distinctive feature of people suffering from taphophobia. To exclude the possibility of lethargic sleep, people constantly check the characteristics of their brain activity during sleep.

Phases, changes and deviations from norms are studied in detail.

Physiological manifestations

A set of manifestations in the body is characteristic not only of taphophobia, but also of most other irrational fears. This list is extensive and personal. Manifestations depend on a person’s personality, his reaction to stress, and the strength of his nervous system.

The most common physiological problems are: Sweating; poor appetite or vice versa – overeating; uncontrollable thoughts; aggressiveness; increased or decreased blood pressure; heartbeat; fainting; dyspnea; dizziness; "lump in the throat; nausea; stool disorder; pain in the back and limbs; dry mouth; memory impairment.

Causes

Taphophobia in people with a rich imagination can occur after watching a horror movie, reading a book, or accidentally overhearing a conversation. Until now, the causes of irrational fears, including the pathological fear of being buried alive, are being studied.

Among the causes of taphophobia are severe stress, which may be associated with the death of a loved one or other severe psychological trauma. With low stress tolerance, a phobia can develop at lightning speed, in just a few days.

According to statistics, women are twice as likely to suffer from phobias. Taphophobia is an exception. by this mental disorder . The phenomenon is explained by the fact that the woman is the continuer of the family and sees a continuation of herself in the child. Her fear of death is secondary.

Irishman Mike Minay, who was buried alive for 61 days

As a primary source of phobia, it is possible in young children who witnessed the death of a loved one or observed the grief of the people around them. In the immature brain, fantasies are born about what will happen to the deceased when he is buried. What if he wakes up? And then in adulthood he will definitely come across information about lethargic sleep. Impressionable people let it pass through themselves, forming pathological fear.

Reasons for the development of taphophobia

Taphophobia is characterized not just by the fear of the wooden product itself, but by a whole string of accompanying phobias. The cause of the development of taphophobia is most often thanatophobia (fear of death). This is inherent in almost every person, because everyone is afraid to die.

Fear of torment

In parallel with taphophobia, a person may suffer from nyctophobia (fear of the dark) and claustrophobia (fear of closed spaces). The causes of phobias most often lie in childhood fears. Observing the ceremonies and rituals associated with funerals, the child does not understand well the essence of what is happening, but the sight of crying relatives and the depressed atmosphere on a subconscious level instill in him the idea that everything that is happening is bad and scary.

Fear of death

Intimidation and prejudices associated with burying the body of the deceased play a role, which are clearly highlighted in cinema; information and photos can be found on the Internet. All this has a huge impact on the fragile child’s psyche.

Taphophobia can also develop at a conscious age due to suspiciousness or impressionability. The reason may be a strong shock from the loss of a loved one.

Fear of being buried alive

Special attention should be paid to such a manifestation of taphophobia as the fear of being buried alive. This is a common form of phobia, which they tried to cope with back in ancient times: they made special coffins with a second entrance or tied a rope to the deceased’s finger, and its other end was attached to a bell.

Our ancestors were afraid of being buried alive, since medicine was poorly developed, and often a dead person could not be distinguished from a living one.

Sopor

Several centuries ago, the first cases of lethargic sleep or imaginary death were described. The body temperature decreases, the heart rate slows down, and breathing is not detected. Any person who became aware of the facts of lethargy was afraid of falling into this state and being buried alive. There is no answer as to the causes of lethargy. There are hypotheses that people who:

• have been subjected to extreme stress;
• experience severe physical or emotional exhaustion;
• suffer from frequent sore throats.

There are facts of the development of the disease after large blood losses, head injuries, and severe intoxication. Chronic fatigue syndrome may be accompanied by prolonged sleep. Overly emotional people fall asleep for a long time. According to one hypothesis, lethargic sleep is caused by a virus that infects the brain.

How to get rid of Tafaphobia

Nervous disorders associated with the fear of being buried alive must be properly treated. If signs of taphophobia appear, you should consult a psychotherapist. Today, there are numerous techniques that help cope with the disease.

To relieve an acute condition, doctors recommend:

• switch your mind to watching movies, reading, listening to music, playing sports, traveling, active recreation;
• get acquainted with information about taphophobia;
• avoid situations that may trigger a panic attack (closed spaces, darkness, stuffy or cold rooms);
• chat on forums with people who suffer from a similar phobia.

Taphophobia - the fear of being buried alive is one of the basic human phobias. Nervous disorder is associated with the individual characteristics of a person. The general symptoms of taphophobia are identified. If they occur, you should consult a psychotherapist.

Taphophobia