Necrophobia: Definition, Symptoms & Treatment

What Is Necrophobia?

Necrophobia, the fear or avoidance of death, is a type of specific phobia, which means your fear is around a specific situation or object, although it is not specifically listed in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5). Approximately 7-9% of people experience specific phobias of some sort.

Phobias and anxiety disorders both activate the same parts of the brain. Like in anxiety disorders where fear is heightened, the fear of death in necrophobia is more intense than for the average person. Someone with necrophobia may actively choose to avoid situations in which they are confronted with death, such as avoiding funerals or cemeteries.¹

Necrophobia Signs & Symptoms

While most people experience discomfort around death, necrophobia involves an excessive and often debilitating fear that can interfere with daily life. Signs and symptoms of necrophobia can vary from person to person, as can the severity of symptoms. A person with necrophobia will likely imagine the worst possible outcome, overestimate the danger associated with death-related situations, and underestimate their ability to cope.

Common symptoms of necrophobia include:

• Avoidance of funerals
• Hives
• Sweating
• Panic attacks
• Nausea
• Dizziness
• Intrusive thoughts
• Nightmares or anxiety dreams
• Social difficulties
• Obsessive thoughts

Causes of Necrophobia

With any specific phobia, there can be a number of reasons it develops. Necrophobia can develop from experiences a person has had, or it can be an outgrowth of underlying anxiety or something they have been exposed to by friends, daily, or in the media. People who experience generalized anxiety are at higher risk of developing any specific phobia, including necrophobia.¹

Recent research from the Covid-19 pandemic suggests that individuals who struggle to tolerate feeling of anxiety tend to have an increased fear of death.² A recent poll depicts that people who are very religious or who are atheist or agnostic have a lower risk of necrophobia.³ Some studies found that there is no association between gender and fear of death, while others found that women experience a greater fear of death than men.³

Causes of necrophobia include:

• Witnessing a death
• A family history of anxiety disorders
• Exposure to gory media that includes images or videos of dead bodies
• Cultural beliefs
• Being present at a funeral
• Religious beliefs
• Avoiding death-related situations that reinforces fears of death

Impacts of Necrophobia

Fear of dead bodies can have a range of impacts, depending on the severity of the symptoms. Most prominently, it can lead to avoidance of important events such as funerals of loved ones or even missing out on going to the movies if it includes showing death or cemeteries. Avoidance can lead to social isolation and unhealthy coping skills, including substance use.

Impacts of necrophobia include:

• Isolation: If someone constantly declines social invitations to accommodate their fears, it can isolate them from their friend group and lead to loneliness.
• Developing other disorders: It’s possible that with increased social isolation, a person can develop more fears, such as agoraphobia, fear of crowded places, or leaving home, in case they may encounter reminders of death.
• Substance use: Coping with intense fears can be challenging and may lead to substance use to numb or soften the harsh feelings. Overuse of substances in this manner can lead to substance use disorders.
• Reduced quality of life: Challenges caused by necrophobia can lead to increased distress daily, limiting one’s life experiences and social difficulties.
• Inability to take care of health: Someone may find themselves declining necessary or helpful medical treatments due to fear of the proximity to death-related situations.

How Necrophobia is Diagnosed

The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5) defines the criteria for diagnosing specific phobias. Necrophobia is a specific phobia because it is anxiety about a specific object or situation, death. The anxiety must be intense or severe, more than what commonly occurs in people when confronted with death.

According to the DSM-5, criteria for a specific phobia diagnosis include:

• Fears are not a result of another mental health disorder
• Fears occur for six months or more
• Fears are out of proportion to the situation
• Fears impact other areas of your life
• Fears invoke an immediate anxiety response
• Fears are actively avoided

Necrophobia Treatment Options

Necrophobia can be treated in various ways and may depend on which treatment a person responds to best. As a type of specific phobia, common phobia treatments are often employed. Sometimes talk therapy is useful, whereas some phobias may be intense enough that they require the use of medication. In other cases, a combination of both therapy and medication is the best treatment option.

Necrophobia Therapy Treatment

Necrophobia can be treated in a similar manner to other phobias because the different types of therapies work across the spectrum of specific phobias. Most of the therapy options require a high level of motivation and commitment from the individual due to the amount of work necessary for change to occur.

Common therapies used to relieve symptoms of necrophobia include:

• Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT): CBT for anxiety works to change how a person thinks and acts in order to change how they feel. During CBT, one will learn to identify the unhelpful thought patterns around necrophobia and begin to challenge and change those thoughts and the behaviors that follow them into more adaptive ones.
• Exposure therapy: Exposure therapy encourages someone to confront their fears in order to learn that they can tolerate them. In exposing oneself to fears surrounding death, one will learn that their fears are less probable or severe than expected and that the anxiety surrounding them is more tolerable than they realized.
• Virtual reality exposure therapy: Virtual reality exposure therapy is a form of exposure therapy where an individual is exposed to their fears via a virtual reality headset and are able to confront their fears in a safe, yet realistic, setting. They may have the option to attend a virtual reality funeral or walk through a cemetery without having to actually be present at one, which can be a helpful first step to learning they can tolerate their anxiety about death.
• Hypnotherapy: Hypnotherapy for anxiety helps a person achieve a trance-like state where they are more open to suggestion and able to regulate their heart rate and breathing. They may use hypnotherapy to induce positive imagery where they are no longer anxious around a feared death-related event or may become open to the idea that feeling anxious does not help them stay safe, which may allow them to worry less.
• Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR): Some phobias are born from traumatic experiences, which is the main focus of EMDR treatment. If necrophobia is rooted in a traumatic experience, EMDR may help someone with unprocessed traumas, thereby alleviating anxiety surrounding death.⁴

Necrophobia Medication Treatment

There are several medications for anxiety that may be helpful in treating necrophobia and the anxiety it causes. Antidepressants, despite the misnomer, can also be used to treat anxiety and often take about six weeks to feel the full effects. Because it takes so long to feel the effects, antidepressants are good for long-term relief of anxiety.

Other options work in the short term and can be taken as needed. Beta-blockers are used for anxiety by reducing adrenaline, which helps to lower physical sensations associated with anxiety. Beta-blockers and benzodiazepines are fast-acting, but benzodiazepines work on a different part of the brain to induce feelings of calm.⁵ Always speak with a doctor about the risks and benefits of different medications before using them.

How to Cope With Necrophobia

Medications and therapy are not the only way forward with necrophobia. There are ways an individual can manage their symptoms on their own in moments of anxiety. Although relaxation is not always beneficial in the long term, it can help one cope in the short term with their experiences.

Here are five coping techniques for necrophobia symptoms:

1. Progressive muscle relaxation: Progressive muscle relaxation involves tensing and relaxing muscles throughout your whole body, usually one at a time. Doing so decreases your body’s stress response by lowering the production of stress hormones and lowering your heart rate and blood pressure.⁶
2. Breathwork exercises: Breathwork involves controlling your breathing in order to activate your body’s relaxation response and improve your ability to handle stressful problems.^7,8
3. Physical exercise: While physical exercise may seem like the opposite of the relaxing exercises mentioned above, exercise can reduce anxiety. It increases your body’s production of feel-good hormones and even helps you learn to tolerate uncomfortable feelings such as anxiety.
4. Coping statements: When your phobia is present, it may help to repeat a mantra to yourself, such as, “I can be anxious and still deal with this situation” or “I’ve survived this before, and I’ll survive this time, too.”¹⁰
5. Mindfulness: Rather than running from or trying to escape your phobia, you might try mindfulness for anxiety exercises to keep you connected to the present moment instead of letting your mind run away with the scary possibilities. Mindful breathing, rather than automatic breathing, is a meditation exercise that draws your attention to your breath. It reduces the fear response in the part of your brain that controls fear, making stress feel more manageable.⁹

When to Seek Professional Support

If you’re finding that fears, thoughts, and behaviors due to your necrophobia are interfering with your ability to live daily life, social life, or ability to work, it’s time to seek professional help. An online therapist directory is a great choice for finding someone trained in treating phobias to work with you. You may even prefer seeing someone virtually, in which case an online therapy platform is a good choice.

If therapy alone is not helping your necrophobia symptoms, it might be time to consider seeing a psychiatrist. You can decide whether you’d prefer to see a psychiatrist in person or have an online psychiatrist to prescribe medications.

In My Experience

Specific phobias such as necrophobia are highly treatable. Getting the proper care and treatment from a therapist trained in exposure therapy is a great starting point. It can feel overwhelming to have symptoms that feel unmanageable, but there is support. Facing your fears is extremely challenging but the most helpful way to overcome them. In treatment, it’s important that you have a high level of motivation and adherence to your therapist’s treatment plan in order to overcome necrophobia.