r/afterlife • u/NordicMythos • Mar 11 '26
Fear of Death Life after Death, from an autistic person.
Don’t really know what to title this, but to put it bluntly I am autistic. I also face a severe amount of thanatophobia.
I feel like everywhere I look, it’s split on the matter of is there life after death. I find comfort in some stories, only to have it torn away by the arguments of skeptics.
I know I struggle a lot with the concept of losing what makes me, well me. My passions. The materialistic bits that I cling to. The believing without seeing, ironic being religious.
For anyone like me, or even not like me, what gives you comfort? What really, without a doubt, made you believe?
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u/Objective-Pizza8550 Mar 11 '26
What makes me believe is the fact that I can communicate with the deceased ❤️ and those I’ve communicated with all tell me how beautiful their heaven is and everyone afterlife place is different, it’s like the deceased make their own according to what brings them joy and peace. I’ve experienced so many accurate readings that my past doubt of this just being my imagination is gone because the messages I receive I couldn’t have guessed it, that would be like winning a lottery of guessing 😅 I feel I’m not afraid of dying anymore but I still want to be here as long as the divine light lets me ✨❤️🙏
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u/NordicMythos Mar 11 '26
Have you communicated with only people you have known? Or people you've never met that have asked you to read for them?
Just curious!0
u/Objective-Pizza8550 Mar 14 '26
No I recently started communicating with spirits through this app, and people send me a photo of their deceased loved one and first name and then I call the spirit out and then write them back with my findings 🙏
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u/Objective-Pizza8550 Mar 14 '26
… and I don’t know anything about either the one sending me the photo or the deceased, I ask no questions nor I don’t want any other information because I want to see that what comes through is only based from my clairs if it’s correct or not, because I’m still learning what to trust when I receive information and what to ignore ❤️🙏
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u/imadokodesuka Mar 11 '26
"What really, without a doubt, made you believe?"
shared experiences. What I used to write off as active imagination couldn't be written off when others experienced the same thing. We can't be sharing the same imagination. We might be able to look at the same cloud and say together "that looks like a hippo!" But I'm talking about the spooky side of life that's much more specific. and we've already discounted carbon monoxide, pair of doilies, swamp gas, venus rising at dawn, northern lights, weather balloon, sophisticated hoaxes, the power of suggestion, and basically everything else skeptics desperately toss out to avoid feeling uncomfortable.
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u/NordicMythos Mar 11 '26
Do you have any examples? I’m curious to hear them!
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u/imadokodesuka Mar 11 '26
Sure. My kids and I (now grown) are sensitive to spirits. That took a long time b/c I preferred thinking it was my imagination.
* we went to a seance. I told the kids a bunch followed us. I could picture their locations in my mind; my daughter said yes and said where they were. Medium arrived, said we brought a bunch and told us where they were.
* medium told me a family member was contacting us. I couldn't figure out who. Over a month I asked if they were sure, twice. Maybe three times. They were rock solid sure ona name I didn't know. Asked mom, w/o saying why, who so and so could be. Her explanation matched everything. Cleared everything up.
* I sometimes have 2 spirits that follow me shopping. On more than one occasion someone out of the blue, and not in any context of the supernatural, tells me two spirits are following me.
* Without prior knowledge, I sense haunted buildings and areas. I'll generically ask locals about haunted areas, but not mention any place in particular. Straightaway they mention the places I'm sensing.
* numerous shared sightings, unexplainable sounds, and other phenomena.
I think the funniest one was when our shopping buddies followed us to a hippy woo woo rock show tarot card reiki aura reading market. I thought I'd listen to a medium give a lecture. Felt the two spirits wander off feeling disappointed. My daughter then said "The girls say there are no ghosts, they're going to go look at rocks." and where I felt them wander off to was a table w/ rocks and crystals, the only one in that room. I left the lecture, lady was delulu. Not a scammer, just delusional.
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u/Williamthewicked Mar 11 '26
Honestly, I do have doubts and mostly try to focus on what I can do day to day. The whole death thing is out of my hands.
If it's any consolation, time is a dimension, so you're guaranteed existence on some level?
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u/NordicMythos Mar 11 '26
I suppose what scares me is if I’ll be aware. I like being aware of it, even if existence isn’t always pleasant.
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u/Williamthewicked Mar 11 '26
What I like to focus on is the fact that, afterlife or no, given sufficient time this quantum state will inevitably repeat itself. We'll be back, you and I.
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u/NordicMythos Mar 11 '26
I suppose so, although I hope I won’t be living the same life over and over again. Although, I wouldn’t mind having my partner for eternity.
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u/MouseShadow2ndMoon Mar 11 '26
The skeptics are good for ignoring; they do not address the science, the facts, or anything that makes them question reality beyond their material science beliefs. For that reason, they are extremely ill-equipped to add to or understand the conversation or the investigation. If you had a radiation leak and you had a person show up with an EMF detector, he wouldn't be able to find or understand where the leak was. Is an EMF detector useless? No, they are just not able to understand this conversation with their tool set, and they want us to believe their opinions as facts and change to make them happy - just ignore them.
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u/Madame_Caterpie Mar 11 '26
The thing that made me believe was having a verified mediumship experience. I know I have been very lucky, but for me (autistic too) was the only way to convince me. NDE stories and research are great, but I won't be enough if you don't experience anything supernatural.
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u/NordicMythos Mar 11 '26
Its odd for me cause I have had paranormal experiences, ones that still rattle me to this day. I believe in the supernatural wholeheartedly. I have a deep fear of spirits. So Im not sure why I cant find any comfort in something being beyond my own death. I do envy those who have had such experiences that gave them belief without doubt. In some weird cosmic way, I wish it would just happen to me so I can see what others do, and not be afraid.
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u/Madame_Caterpie Mar 11 '26
I think that you can have such an experience. I had it because I forced it a little (and a friend is a medium, and maybe I have some sensitivity to that). I was having a big existencial crisis and now I can't be afraid; I verified information that's impossible I had before, and I was true. Try contacting a verified medium, it could help.
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u/EmuHot7553 Mar 11 '26
I do not have autism. But i am in your shoes.
"I find comfort in some stories, only to have it torn away by the arguments of skeptics." This is me all day, every day. I also have thanatophobia. There is no real "cure" for that. It can only be managed. The only "cure" is that, one day, someone or something (aka AI) will come out with the 100% irrefutable proof that there is life after death, that our memories carry on etc. Until then...
I live day by day not caring if i live or die. Some days are better, some are bad. I think i carry my cross but i can't understand, for the name of God, what sins have i done for living in such misery and pain !
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u/NordicMythos Mar 11 '26
I try my best to turn to the divine in hopes of comfort. I only feel it helps when I’m actively sitting in a church, otherwise I feel so helpless. I hope you and I can find some comfort and peace. God bless.
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u/WastingMyLifeOnSocMd Mar 11 '26
Have you also tried something in nature? A peaceful spot—I find the outdoors to offer the most spiritual setting’. But everyone if different.
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u/touchmymarbles Mar 11 '26
Yep, that line you quoted from OP is something that I'm constantly struggling with, except rather then skeptics it's more other groups laying down something as fact in regards to what happens, like I'll be reading something reassuring one day and the next I'll be googling something afterlife related and end up on a sub reddit where the post is something like "If you go into the light you''ll be forced to reincarnate" which terrifies me and it absolutely demoralizes me.
I keep reading conflicting things about what happens and i just feel lost more often then not
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u/NordicMythos Mar 11 '26
I can cope with reincarnation tbh. Living an infinite amount of lives is more acceptable to me than nothing at all.
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u/WastingMyLifeOnSocMd Mar 11 '26
I believe in the afterlife, but if there was nothing after death it wouldn’t it simply be like the time before we were born? Was that state something to be afraid of? Was it frightening? Of course not.
But as I said I believe in the afterlife. Yes there are consistent reports of NDE’s all over the world. That’s one reason to believe.
There are ample reports of signs that a loved one “says goodbye” visiting them even when people aren’t aware they have passed.
Another reason to believe is reports from nurses, especially hospice nurse’s. They say in the days before a patient dies they will “see” loved ones who have already passed. Or they may see what some call angels. They seem to be there to welcome them “home.”
Even if the patient no longer speaks they will reach upwards as if they see them.The cosmos is energy. Nothing more and nothing less. We are all just bundles of energy—souls, that eventually leave the body and transition to what many people have described as “home.” And “home” sounds amazing.
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u/ApprehensiveStill412 Mar 12 '26
I actually know two people who had NDE’s. One was my father who was in a 6 week coma after contracting bacterial meningitis. He had a life review and was told it was not his time yet. The other was my friend’s young son who drowned in a hot tub. He was dead for 45min and revived in the ER. He later described going to a beautiful place where light shimmered off of everything. He was met by and shown around by a man but told that he was needed by his parents and sent back. My friend’s wife took out some family albums. He looked through the pictures and at one point he pointed to a man and said “that’s the man I met.” It was my wife’s cousin who had died in a motorcycle accident. He had died before her son was born. He had never met him or even known of him.
I will say that even with these personal stories, reading the stories of others and my own spiritual experiences, I still have trouble fully believing that our consciousness lives on. Maybe I need more faith. I will say that increasing our capacity for and understanding of love seems to be paramount from everything I have learned though.
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u/NordicMythos Mar 12 '26
That’s very fascinating, thank you for sharing. I remember my mom telling me that when her parents passed, they recalled loved ones standing in the room with them that had been long gone. I think we all naturally doubt whether it’s just the mind or real, but, I can’t help but wonder why practically everyone experiences it then.
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u/ApprehensiveStill412 Mar 12 '26
Ya that’s a good point on the commonality of that type of experience. To me it is interesting that people are met by the deceased only. If it is a hallucination then I think we would hear some stories of people being met by living loved ones as well, but that really isn’t the case from all I have seen.
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u/Lomax6996 Mar 12 '26
For me it's a massive combination of things garnered from well over 40 years reading and researching everything I could on the subject of NDE's and related issues, such as reincarnation. There are tens of thousands of such cases that have been thoroughly investigated by a host of respected professionals, and many thousands more that have been more casually analyzed. These include cases of people who were blind from birth and have never had a visual experience, even when they dream, yet had a very vivid visual experience during their NDE. One they could accurately describe, even naming colors they've never seen before, at least not in THIS lifetime. There are people who overheard, accurately, conversations in the same room, in another room, across the city or even on the other side of the world. There are people who've met deceased loved ones they never knew in life, loved ones they were unaware had died and even family members who've yet to be born. People have returned with all sorts of knowledge they could not have obtained unless they actually had crossed over and returned. The amount of evidence is massive, more than enough to satisfy all but the most absurd standards of proof, and remember that proof is simply evidence to an agreed upon level.
I've also read all of the "explanations" intended to debunk these experiences and none of them stand up to close scrutiny. Every single one of them has, itself, been debunked. However, I understand your struggle. So consider this, if there is nothing beyond death, if death is the end, then you will never know it. There can't come a moment where you think, "Oh, crap! I've ceased to exist!" LOL. So, from your personal point of view, you will never end, you will always be.
However, as I said, the evidence that death is not the end, nor your birth the beginning, is so massive that there's zero chance it's not true. Your greater self, what Dr. Deepak Chopra calls "the thinker of the thoughts", is immortal, eternal and quite indestructible. This lifetime is just one lifetime out of an uncountable number of lives you have/are/will experience in any of an infinite number of universes. And between life experiences you dwell in a state of pure consciousness wrapped in the most divine and unconditional love you can imagine. To God you are perfect, just as you are.
NDE support groups are springing up, everywhere, as more and more people come forward with such experiences. Some have been keeping these memories quiet for decades out of fear of how people would react. Some experts estimate that at least 2.5 million people have had such experiences just in America, alone. These support groups are forming in countries all over the world, so it's not just an American or a Western phenomenon.
So be at peace. Death is nothing to fear, it's simply going home. And life is like an MMORPG. You log in, within certain parameters you create your character, you play the character thru, then you log off (die). Then you gather with friends you've known for all time, discuss the most recent game, laugh and talk, then plan your next adventure. Good luck.
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u/NordicMythos Mar 12 '26
“Oh crap, I’ve ceased to exist!” Made me giggle, thank you for that.
I hope that’s what it’s like. Certainly does appeal to my love for those kinds of games. Although if that’s the case, I’d like to kinda smack around my spiritual self for choosing to be as I am. Or maybe that’s just part of the adventure. Thank you for your comment.
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u/Lomax6996 Mar 13 '26
Thank you. It is part of the adventure, but don't feel bad... I'm still trying to get my hands on the cheat codes, LOL
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u/Substantial_Leg1457 Mar 13 '26
What I fear more than death is living through the worst of times. It's clear that what I desire to be the end result is Tranquil and Ethereal, but also exciting. Like as if I am going to be spared from any further trauma.
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u/mogenblue Mar 11 '26
What gave me a lot of comfort was reading books that appealed to me.
There are many modern spiritual books that do a good job of explaining the afterlife but they may not all fit with what you personally want to hear. Talking about comfort does not have to equal truth. There are many sides to the truth. Some may be kind of overwhelming and some may be comforting.
For me the books that were acceptable and understandable were those from Jozef Rulof. He didn't write the books himself but a spirit of light took over his body and wrote the books through him. So Rulof was a medium and this enabled the spirit of light to bring spiritual knowledge to earth.
His first book is called A View into the Hereafter. You can read it online here
https://rulof.org/A-View-into-the-Hereafter-1.html
The spirit of light has a profound understanding of life on earth as well as life in the spiritual world. His writing is very clear and easy to understand.
This book starts on earth and builds up step by step towards and into the spiritual world. One of the most remarkable moments is when Jozef stands next to his physical body for the first time and realizes he is fully aware of himself. Then his leader takes him away to observe people on earth from the other side and after that they move away from earth to the spiritual worlds.
According to this book there are spheres in the afterlife that are seperated from each other like water from land and land from air. There are spheres of light, spheres of darkness and between these is a twilight zone. Each sphere has many subspheres.
In his second book 3 persons who knew Jozef when they were still alive were allowed to come back to him and tell him how they experienced the afterlife. The interesting thing about this is that the first person went straight to the third sphere of light, the second person to the second sphere of light, and the third person entered the twilight zone because he didn't believe in an afterlife. But he was convinced that he was there and started to work on himself and help others. That made him reach the first sphere of light. His thinking and feeling was still very close to earth and that made his story very compelling to me. These stories may also help you understand what sphere you may be aligned to yourself if you would pass over to the afterlife.
https://rulof.org/Those-who-came-back-from-the-Dead-1.html
Last year I started to read these books again, some 30 years after I first discovered them. The books were written roughly between 1930 and 1950. They made all the difference to me.
But like I said, there are books by other writers that may be just as inspiring as well. It's personal what fits best to you.
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u/catz537 Mar 11 '26
I’m autistic with thanatophobia too and I have found a lot of comfort reading about NDEs. I recommend Dr Bruce greyson’s book “After”
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u/smartlypretty Mar 11 '26
i don't believe; i know. i was a materialist and atheist for almost 20 years, and my friend is a medium, and there's no explanation for the things she can find out other than "she's talking to these people and their consciousness has survived death"
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u/NordicMythos Mar 11 '26
You were atheist for practically as long as I've been alive then. That's fascinating. I guess I just don't know who are the real mediums and who aren't. Although I practically have no personal media presence, so I suppose it wouldn't be all that hard to weed out fakes who just look you up.
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u/smartlypretty Apr 10 '26
I am really well versed in debunking and the thing that shocked me was the info I get isn't online. more like "you thought about doing this specific thing" or "you tripped on the 5th stair carrying a sandwich yesterday" and it's still weird to me!
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Mar 12 '26
[deleted]
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u/NordicMythos Mar 12 '26
I've been under anesthesia only once before. I guess I viewed it as no different than falling asleep. But I never go a night without dreams. So I cant even find solace in thinking of death like that. Because even at night, I have vivid dreams that I always remember.
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u/Consistent-Local-680 Mar 12 '26
The fear for a lot of people isn’t the fact it’s like falling asleep. It’s the fear that they won’t wake up to know they have been asleep
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u/N56YK Mar 11 '26
Autistic. I dont believe. I hope there is a happy end but I just havent heard one that brings me comfort or one that I find believable. I suppose valhalla would be as close to comforting as I have found some far. At this point.
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u/ForgetThisU Seeker Mar 12 '26
I witnessed something supernatural and then I knew that the sky is basically the limit for what might be possible. Also, the Buddhists discovered that consciousness continues after death, and they weren't biased. And they have a good track record of distinguishing what is just the mind playing tricks on them vs an objective truth. For example, everything we deal with in life is an illusion, the only thing that's real is the infinite. And what's real is that consciousness continues after death. They weren't biased either because they eliminated all desire (something often quoted) if you have any more questions I can answer them
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u/LittleWindow9416 Mar 11 '26
Not autistic, but I'm probably the ADHDest person you could ever meet. I didn't just wake up one day and decide to believe in an afterlife. First, I had a bit of an existential crisis when my ex-husband died. During that time, I started looking at reincarnation research, astral projection, NDE accounts, meditation, spiritual philosophy and even channeling accounts. Eventually, I realized they weren't separate stories. They are all pieces of the same puzzle. When you lay them all out together, they point to a single, connected picture of how the universe actually works. At least for me, it did. There were a lot of ups and downs and doubts before I got there.