Getting old?

How men cope with getting old? I have anxiety about dying and having heart attack

I have plenty of things wrong with me and I sometimes have anxiety about dying in pain, but I doubt that will happen unless my eventual death might be the result of some kind of tragic accident. The only death I have ever actually observed was that of my paternal grandmother many years ago, and she died quite peacefully. My mother-in-law died five years ago following many years of disability and having to deal with pain, but my wife was there with her at the time and she also died quite peacefully.

My blood pressure unexpectedly dropped way low after I had taken a certain med a couple of weeks ago, and I could not help but wonder whether I was dying. I had become light-headed and was losing vision, but I was able to make it to my chair before passing out for a few seconds. I have no idea what dying will actually be like, of course, but death is as natural as birth and I would guess death will be far less traumatic than the birth we do not remember.

I understand the thought of a heart attack being scary, and I did have one back in '99. It was a little disturbing mentally because I did not know what was causing me to nearly pass out at the time, and it did feel like something or someone heavy was sitting on my chest. However, I was definitely not in any kind of excruciating pain, so I think even another heart attack would be fine with me if that is the way I am to ultimately go.

I am 53 and no longer fear dying.
As long as I go with dignity and not in terrible pain.
The thought of being helpless or confined to a bed
or having some angry nurse changing my diaper in a home is horrible.
Some things are worse than death.

Absolutely. I also don't fear death itself. Actually, I'm waiting it to happen soon than later. I fear the things that precede death, like physical pain and suffering and being crippled.

Wow. You guys are brave. I am still scare about the issue.

I just turned 50 a few months ago. I spend a lot of time reading and considering philosophy. And I purposefully think about my own death.

Fearing death is natural. If we didn't fear death, we wouldn't be here now. Fear of death is why we eat, take care of ourselves, ... etc. We cannot avoid death. We can delay it as much as possible, but we cannot avoid it. But if you think about it, after you die, you will be the same as before you were born. You will feel nothing. But still getting old and/or sick is frightening, at least to me.

Death is just change - slightly more radical than puberty. I've only got a couple of years left at best and am rather looking forward to it. Severe, chronic pain for long enough and death starts to look good.

Agreed, and I like to think of it as another kind of transition or passage such as at birth. We once might have been a bit anxious if we had known about next passing through the birth canal, but death is just as much a part of life as birth.