Life Expectancy?

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Well said ruveyn
I suspect I will live shorter then many due to a genetic heart defect, but I do not fear the inevitable

I don't see my AS as a death sentence. I see it as a gift and a challenge. I live each day like it's my last, because I can go any day.

I hope you do not smoke like your iconic photo in the upper left corner.

ruveyn

Quit smoking shortly after I discovered it Been 3 years now without tobacco and I definitely don't miss it

Excellent decision. I quit smoking in 1962 after developing a two pack a day habit. In those days cigarettes cost 25 cents a pack. It was rough sledding for a while, but definitely a good career move for me.

ruveyn

Yes, that.

I'm at a point in my life where... how to describe. I could die tomorrow and be satisfied that I had lived my life well and been happy. Every extra day I get to live is a gift, almost a bonus. The way times are looking, I may have more luxury now than I ever will again. (*) And I'm okay with that. I'm not okay with what's happening in the world but I've made my peace with myself about how it may affect my life and even death. I figure that every day that I live is one more than I might otherwise have gotten and I'm grateful for that. And when it's really and truly my time to go I'll deal with that okay too. Meanwhile I'm happy to be alive and think the best way to deal with death is to live your life as it is and not let the worry of death cheat you out of living. (**)

(*) I don't mean anything like what most people mean by luxury. Most people mean what a rich person gets and I am poor. I mean that right now I get all the help I need to survive. I have a power wheelchair, electric hospital bed, Hoyer lift, and an electronic communication device that works well for me. My refrigerator is full. I have a home. Any or all of these things, including the ones necessary to survive, could disappear, almost undoubtedly will disappear, in the future. I don't want to imply that I have all that I need. Just that I anticipate a future in which I will be dealing with a lot of hardship and struggle.

(**) Which is what I meant in an earlier post when I said that if you're worried about stress shortening your lifespan you should find a way to avoid stressing out due to fear of death. I wasn't talking about therapy or anything resembling it (I hate therapy) and I was talking to the original poster, not the poster before me who seemed to take it a little personally. There are ways to overcome a fear of death without either real therapy or some self-helpish equivalent. The problem is that fearing death can cheat you out of more life than death will, so even if you want to live forever you can still find ways to make peace with the idea that someday everyone dies. And then you can live unencumbered by that fear, and that in itself will make death less scary.

I feared death a lot until my early 30s. I don't exactly welcome it now, but I'm not particularly afraid of it.

What changed my perspective was a month of panic attacks when I pushed myself too hard in college, and fearing imminent death every day for a month, to the point of agoraphobia and multiple emergency room trips, constant exposure dulled the fear, which I think ultimately dulled the panic attacks.

I had almost the same exact experiences in my forties, and the actual experience of thinking I was going to die any second was a very unique experience that just motivated me to concentrate on living; whatever it took. I had a panic attack that lasted for a day, and couldn't catch my breath through the course of the whole thing. I had two more after that, and again I thought I was really dying. I don't get them anymore, thank goodness. Overall I'm quite numb. But it's better than having panic attacks. I understand they do require excess adrenaline, and I don't seem to have much access to that anymore. It seems that our bodies have built in mechanisms to overide the effects of our thoughts if the effects get too out of control.

This reminds me of a short poem by G. K. Chesterton. (Though what he's saying is not quite the same as what you're saying.)

Here dies another day
During which I have had eyes, ears, hands
And the great world round me;
And with tomorrow begins another.
Why am I allowed two?

Well, they do say in our lifetime medical science will be able to grow and replace internal organs. People will live 150 years old in some cases. I am hoping for this since I have a bad heart and kidneys. I want to out live the @sshole NT bullies who made my life a hell on earth.

I don't fear death; only the transition from living to dead.

I think I am probably the only one on here who fears death.

I don't believe anxiety alone is what effects lifespan.

I think the things that anxiety causes (high blood pressure etc.) is what shortens the lifespan, so treating the anxiety could probably fix that.

It's my OCD that causes me to fear it!

Also, I have a personal issue going on that I don't want to talk about that's making my OCD worse.

The depression does; but spending time on a computer may ironically lengthen your life expectancy (given that you also get enough physical activity) because it is mentally stimulating. The longer people stay mentally active, the longer they live--most important when you are over 40, but still has some impact when you are younger than that.

No, you are not.

The key to a long healthy life is to do your best with what you can control. There's no point in stressing out about things we cannot control. Besides, there may be factors that affect life expectancy that science has yet to announce, and so if you're gonna be really picky on living a long life, don't bother.

I don't mean that you should do harm to yourself and live an unhealthy lifestyle, but just enjoy the health that you have right now and do what you can. Probably best not to think about it 24/7 as it may add stress, which shorteness your lifespan.

In conclusion, if you want to live a long healthy life, just CHILL man!! You can't control everything anyways.

Thanks. I was scared I was the only.

Heh, totally doubt that.

Also, I wanted to add that I don't think being afraid or not being afraid of dying has anything to do with maturity or how emotionally together someone is, by the way. I think it's simply one possible reaction to a particular kind of experience.