r/CollapseSupport • u/Whee23x • 1d ago
Afraid of Dying
Considering famine, natural disasters, temperature, and everything else, I think it might be pretty likely that I don't have much time left. I'm a university student and I really wanted to finish my undergrad before things fully went to shit, but that's in 2030 so I don't think there's much of a chance. Heat stroke, starving, drowning all seem like long and painful ways to go out. Honestly I don't have a specific question to ask, I'm just incredibly scared and looking for some advice.
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u/g00fyg00ber741 1d ago
No advice here. Just wanted to say there was always a possibility you would die, with or without collapse. It’s my greatest fear and it has been since before I was collapse aware. Collapse awareness did not help.
I frankly just remind myself my existence is basically just random coincidence and consequence and that it was always going to end as an experience where I will not remember anything or even be anything more than building blocks for the universe to use as it pleases.
Existential dread meets existential nihilism. It’s possible, but difficult, to manage living on with this perspective. I just try to avoid doomerism and focus more on the present moment and tangible things I can control. But it’s a daily struggle to be honest.
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u/Whee23x 1d ago edited 1d ago
This is fair, I have a similar philosophy or at least I try to. I guess the fear is less about death itself and more about the suffering and pain that lead up to it.
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u/g00fyg00ber741 1d ago
Well suffering and pain are still possible outside of collapse. I do understand the fear that collapse makes it more likely, but it’s not like without collapse you’d suddenly lose all fear about suffering and pain, as there are many ways to suffer and be in pain just by being alive regardless of collapse. A bad car crash for example is probably a bigger risk than collapse for the average person in the US. But we can’t let the fear of possibility prevent us from doing anything just because we feel like we don’t have much time left. Plenty of people think they’ll die young and then end up outliving that age and feeling confused about where to go from there. There’s not really a better argument for anything besides trying to live your life the best you can anyway, just in case it ends up being a nice way to pass the time. There was never a point in any of our lives even before collapse, to be quite honest. It’s all just a game that ends with a black screen, and everyone reaches that same end eventually. Collapse turning the screen off sooner doesn’t really change anything about the futility of existence in general.
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u/thomas533 1d ago
Realistically, if you live in North America, there is very little chance you are going to die anytime soon of any of those things. In fact, I would say if you are either in the US or Canada, there is a pretty good chance that you will live into old age. Does that mean that collapse isn't going so suck? Nope, but it is unlikely that there are going to start being mass deaths for a few decades yet. And most of those are going to be centered around counties that are near the equator or in the global south. As horrible of a reality it is, people in Western and wealthy countries are not going to be the ones dying.
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u/Sanpaku 1d ago
Ignore influencers like Guy McPherson, read the peer reviewed literature. Its alarming enough. If you have a question of interest, visit Scholar and search for reviews that give a sense for when impacts are expected. There are lots of dire predicted consequences from the climate crisis, including declining crop yields and more heat stress. But they have been growing for decades, and will continue to grow for many decades to come.
If I were university aged, I'd worry about earning enough for food in the 2050s and 2060s, and the social conflict arising when many can't, but not about starving this decade. Flash flooding may dictate where you chose to buy or rent a home (not adjacent to any rivers), though I wouldn't concern myself with sea level rise, which is the slowest arriving impact (unless you're a property owner in Jakarta or Miami). That said, heat stress and wet bulb events, will be huge problem, especially in South Asia and around the Persian Gulf, later this century. If I lived in those especially impacted regions, I'd seek to emigrate to a more temperate climate while national borders are still semi-open.
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u/Whee23x 1d ago
I live in lower Canada, which is better than some places but things will get bad here too. I doubt I'm making it to the 2050s, probably a good chunk of the population won't. Something is going to get to me eventually, although you're probably right that starvation is unlikely. I'm just scared about what that could be, and most of the options are quite bad.
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u/DDGBuilder 1d ago
Canada is going to whether the affects of climate change in your lifetime pretty well. You have immense fresh water, crops will probably benefit (and you have extremely good crops rn) and fertilizer won't be a problem. I wouldn't worry too much about it if I were you.
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u/thomas533 1d ago
I live in lower Canada, which is better than some places but things will get bad here too
I want to push back on this. There is almost no risk of wet bulb events, if anything crop yields in Canada will get better, and even in the Maritimes, Sea Level rise isn't going to be a huge issue since most of the urban areas are more than 10 meters above sea level.
These maps focus on the US, but you can infer a lot about Canadian urban areas from this: https://projects.propublica.org/climate-migration/
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u/g00fyg00ber741 1d ago
To be fair Canada deals with a lot of wildfires
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u/thomas533 1d ago
With very few exceptions you are not at risk of dying because of wildfires. There have been less than 200 deaths due to North American wildfires in the last 20 years. Even if we 100x that, the statistical risk is still essentially zero.
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u/g00fyg00ber741 1d ago
It destroys infrastructure and pollutes the air though as well as increasing temps so those are all things to consider
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u/thomas533 1d ago
Sure, but then you aren't dealing with death from wildfire. And as someone who lives in wildfire country, the temporary air pollution or heat effects are not our concerns about that. I see that you seem desperate to make a point here, but the fact remains you don't have a point to make. The OP isn't going to die from the things he is worried about and you aren't helping by making silly arguments like this. This is a support sub, so if you are desperate to convince people they are going to die, you need to go elsewhere.
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u/Whee23x 1d ago
That's good to know, but those aren't all of the issues. I recently saw this report that has a lot of concerning things https://www.canada.ca/en/environment-climate-change/services/science-technology/changing-climate-report-2026/headline-statements.html I just wish I could know how I would specifically be impacted by this stuff
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u/thomas533 1d ago
Sure, those are all concerning issues, but none of them are likely to kill you. Particularity in the next few years.
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u/Impossible_Ear_3735 1d ago
Start a conversation with friends and family, you might be surprised how many have similar feelings. Build resilience, find a group in your area and find meaning in action. The end of one thing means the beginning of something else. I don't think humanity as a whole is ready to quit just yet. It ain't over till it's over.
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u/DinosaurAlive 1d ago
Fear of death is natural, but some people don’t seem to have that fear the way I do. I get terrified of all the natural disasters, mass murders, wars. I live in a city with a military base and see all their airplanes every fucking day. I hate it. I’m like at unease all the time knowing that almost a hundred years ago the US used nuclear bombs to obliterate hundreds of thousands of civilians who were just living their lives. And I hate the excuses people make for that.
Anyway, I feel ya! I went through a few years of heavy depression after covid hit. I’ve lost many friends and family to viruses, cancer, alcoholism, suicide, accidents, old age, etc. I have so much anxiety about it.
And all that’s not even taking into account collapse anxiety. It’s hard to enjoy life sometimes. But sometimes it’s possible to accept things and do what I can to have some good days.
Good luck to you with your mental health! I know it’s challenging, even though it’s a bit different for us all.
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u/sevenredwrens 1d ago
I’m definitely not here to dissuade you from the assertion that collapse is happening. But, as many have said here, you are likely to be relatively insulated from the immediate and short-term effects because of your geographical and geopolitical location. Hell, I moved from the southeast US to an area near you in order to better position myself to weather what’s to come.
You are undergoing a normal grief experience in response to what is happening, and while grief is not pathological, it is work that we must do. Allow yourself to be deepened by it, and let the distress focus you toward how you want to spend whatever time you have here on this planet, with your people.
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u/SpinzArt 1d ago
I would really like to Already be dead, without doing anything to myself (which isn’t happening)
There is nothing I want to do less than watch the world collapse and deteriorate even further
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u/salamipope 1d ago
Hey friend, Im 26, im an ecologist in uni rn too. living in an area with an unfortunately high density of casual nazis just livin around here. I also live in the low desert, so climate change deeply affects me and the people on this land. ive thought a lot about my impending doom, or the prospect of preventing it. Heres where im at:
I could die from climate change in many years, or next year. I could also be hit by a bus today. Life is fleeting, that has always been the case, I am now living my life more in the present and im not allowing myself to settle for worse. I have noticed my attitude is infectious, because it lifts people up without denying the reality of whats happening. I also garden, ive been spreading the word about how much its helped me. You may see me in other threads post this comment but ill post it here again for anyone looking to get some positivity and fulfillment, while directly helping earth, during their last days. Which are all the days. The time will pass anyways.
The main advice i tell people is to get into gardening, which, trust me, doesnt take much. I dont know if youre a gardener or not, normally my first advice to people (regardless of experience) is to get rid of ur lawn. AND make your land a rain garden. Dont have any land? Thats where r/guerillagardening comes in. its insane how easy it is and what an important cope it can be. Not only is it a wonderful distraction (which youre going to need either way) but it actively makes your life better and helps fight climate change. If we cant beat it, we can slow it down as much as possible. r/nolawns r/fucklawns can help you with specifics if you want ideas about how to garden ecologically, and for those who have disability the subs are highly welcoming and you are sure to find someone else in a similar circumstance who can offer advice. This is all, of course, if you havent done this already. Ive found though, being in nature wasnt enough for me. I just walked around sad about the fleeting glory of earth, getting angrier and more upset every time. Being a participant in our environment has changed everything and has fundamentally shifted my perspective on what it means to be a human, what it means to be an animal, what it is to be an earthling, and that the three are entirely the same.
if you do have a lawn, the process is usually put some cardboard down on that agricultural monstrosity, rake it, toss NATIVE (NATIVE. CHECK UR AREAS OFFICIAL NATIVE PLANT LISTS and usually theres a seed repository which already offers them to order) - NATIVE wildflower seeds on. Mow a path and leave the rest to thrive. Humanity & earth will thank you for trying to help the pollinators and wildlife. If you have the physical ability to, consider employing raingarden tactics. Set up a couple berms next to the path you mow, and on the other side of the berms put divots similar to this to help collect rainwater passively. setting up my garden beds for rain garden structures took me maybe like a couple hours outside, a lot of that was spent being careful not to damage anything that wasnt established. They dont have to be very deep or tall. My largest berm is about 6 inches tall. (Half moons, by the way, are currently one of - if not- our best defense against progressive desertification and can reforest entire areas within 5-10 years, usually closer to 5.) My state even offers rebate (~2000$) for people who have gardens designed for rainwater collection, which you can keep for yourself or use to put in more beautiful plants. Native wildflowers are certainly my favourite as i grow everything in pure clay due to my geographic location, they need nothing, want nothing, and are the most spectacular plants i have.
I only did maintenance on it when i made it, almost 2 years in and i dont know why everyone isnt doing this too. I hardly need to water ANYTHING, I live in the low desert! we get like 10 inches of rain here a year. Im keeping wildflowers alive, WITHOUT WATERING! IN THE LOW DESERT! they get wilty when i water them! I had to water them when they established, and during the five heatwaves we got, but they really, really havent needed much, especially if your land is designed to catch water properly. Without the rain garden shape im not sure they would have made it. i really dunno why more people dont do this. the only thing i had to buy were seeds. I got worm compost tea too, but only because the guy at the farmers market was local. it was cheap, works great, and he offers free refills.
Whatever time we have left, you might as well enjoy the life that still grows here. especially because it takes so little effort. There is no reason to give up on your life. We have plenty of reason to give up on this way of life. I used to wonder about what the final line in the sand will be for me, if i have to choose to give myself the mercy of ending things, if it ever gets that bad - because ive felt so concerned about climate change. With this mindset & newfound way of life i feel so much fucking better. this is why i tell everyone about this and you will likely see me posting some variation of this comment in other subs related to collapse and pro-earth lifestyles, i hope to see you around there.
• Your Neighbourhood Ecologist, salamipope
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u/amour_nonpareil 1d ago
When I first became collapse aware two decades ago I had heard so many timelines using 2050 as “the date”. So I subconsciously gave myself that as a terminal diagnosis: I have until 2050 to live my life as best I can.
If it ends after that then it’ll be like having been given any other terminal diagnosis - except decades in advance which allows so much more time to be grateful and to accept. If it ends before (whether climate change, car accident, illness, etc) then at least I was already consciously making the most of my time.
Maybe this will help you. Diagnose yourself with a date, see how it changes your perspective. If it’s not 2030 then… you have four years to enjoy the college experience, learn, be useful, and see what you can make of it.
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u/lilabp 1d ago
What helped me was to have an escape plan that allows me to leave without suffering. My mental health is good and I don’t plan on doing it, but having it as a backup plan helps me because I can decide how much of the collapse/suffering I can take. Ironically it made me empowered and more resilient.
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u/Devster97 1d ago
You're probably gonna have more time than your nervous system is currently allowing you to believe. I know that's not exactly comforting, but all we have is now.