Why do we find it so difficult to talk about dying?

May 16, 2026 — 3:30am

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Spoiler alert: one day you’ll die. Same for those you love, your mechanic and that power-walker you see most mornings. As for your old teachers, they’re probably dead already, or fast on their way. Death is how mortals do things, yet how often do you broach the topic?

In the Bhutan proverb, “To be a happy person, one must contemplate death five times daily”. That’s overkill, in my books, but I envy the gist. Pondering your end stands to enrich your meantime, highlight the gift of each wakeful hour. But in practice we flinch. Deny. Evade. Bury the truth of death.

Thanatophobia is the clinical term. Not that fear is the only driver. There’s admin, too: the finicky details of who gets what, where your body goes, plus the humdrum of getting there – the dying bit. Even English struggles to embrace the mess of death, though Dr Hannah Gould........

© WA Today