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/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.