Gaming With Phobias: How Does It Feel To Be A Gamer With Thanatophobia

Violet has a phobia

- Violet Plata

Following suit on my wife's article about her struggles with thalassophobia, I'd like to talk about my experiences with gaming with thanatophobia. Looking up the word in MerriamWebster, I found a simple yet all-encompassing description: fear of death. Whilst I'd love to make this a light-hearted yet informative article, I don't have my wife's phenomenal sense of humour, so I'll stick to informative!

What is thanatophobia?

Interestingly, thanatophobia— a term coined by Sigmund Freud, the father of psychology — has two Greek roots: thanatos, which means death, and phobos, which means fear or terror. Simply put, the idea of death haunts those who struggle with this particular phobia, and it won't just cause panic at the thought of their own death and the process of dying but the death of their loved ones and the idea of grieving, too.

How does it affect gaming?