Necrophobia is the abnormal fear of dead things (e.g., corpses) as well as things associated with death (e.g., coffins, tombstones). Necrophobia is derived from Greek nekros (νεκρός) for "corpse" and -phob- from the Greek phobos (φόβος) for "fear."[1] With all types of emotions, obsession with death becomes evident in both fascination and objectification.[2]
Symptoms include: shortness of breath, rapid breathing, irregular heartbeat, sweating, dry mouth and shaking, feeling sick and uneasy, psychological instability, and an altogether feeling of dread and trepidation.[3] The sufferer may feel this phobia all the time, or only when something triggers the fear, like a close encounter with a dead animal or the funeral of a loved one or friend.[4] The fear may have developed when a person witnessed a death, or was forced to attend a funeral as a child. Some people experience this after viewing frightening media.[3]
The fear is an important illness and should be taken seriously. Treatment for this should be some type of medication or therapy can be used also.[5]
Similar to necrophobia, thanatophobia is the more specific fear of death itself, of being dead or dying. Thanatophobia is derived from Thanatos (θάνατος: "death"), the Greek personification of death. Thanatophobia is not the psychological phenomenon of death anxiety, nor the related but more philosophically-motivated 'existential angst'; death anxiety and existential angst are not phobias. People suffering from thanatophobia are so preoccupied with death or dying that it begins to affect their daily lives. They may even develop other disorders as they try to cope with their phobia, such as obsessive–compulsive disorder or hypochondriasis.[6]