What is 'DeathTok' And How Does it Help With Death Anxiety?

It's odd, but it isn't as spooky as it sounds.

The stuff that pops up on your TikTok “For You” page can be pretty random, hey?

And perhaps in the past few months, something from “DeathTok” might’ve popped up on yours – either leaving you questioning why or perhaps not being able to look away.

If you’re confused ‘cos your algorithm isn’t serving up the death content for you, let us explain…

What is DeathTok?

It’s not as dark as it sounds.

Essentially, DeathTok is made up of a community of palliative care workers, morticians, and funeral directors making content about their day-to-day lives.

The TikToks span from skits about end-of-life care (like makeup tutorials, for, well, dead people), funeral arrangements, and death-worker mishaps.

They’re doing it in the hopes of helping people who find death hard to talk about and bringing comfort to people suffering grief and loss.

Actual dead bodies are never shown of course – it’s merely functioning to open up the conversation, break down stigmas around death, and cure curiosity around it, too.

Why are most of us so scared of dying?

Death anxiety, also known as thanatophobia, is one of the most common fears.

It's basically the idea that we all want to live, but we're also probably the only species that knows our death is inevitable. This kind of conflict can produce a fear of our own deaths, and other people's too.

In minor levels, this can be quite a normal, manageable fear. But, when severe, it can be debilitating and affect your quality of life while also worsening other mental health conditions.

It's more common in younger people and can be triggered as we see illness, climate change, accidents, or natural disasters on the news or in our daily lives.

The theory is, by normalising death and starting conversations about it, you're minimising that fear and anxiety around it.

Could DeathTok actually be helpful?

When we’re anxious, we tend to avoid things. That’s the most common coping mechanism related to severe death anxiety, but it often makes things worse.

That’s why things like DeathTok are useful in combatting fears we may have about death, by easing into facing those fears instead through comfort and even humour.

There’s actually a treatment called “exposure therapy,” which is said to be one of the most effective ways of reducing fears of death.

Dr Rachel Menzies is a psychologist and researcher at the University of Sydney who specialises in death anxiety. She told Triple J's Hack that exposure work happens in baby steps and can start with talking about fears or watching comedies about death (or perhaps scrolling through DeathTok?).

From there, it can grow into more hectic exercises like planning your own funeral or writing your own eulogy. Dr Menzies herself has her own app that reminds her five times a day she’s going to die in order to normalise death, and has even zipped herself and her colleagues in body bags before to help put things in perspective.

These concepts have risen in previous years, with community events taking place in cemeteries, “death cafes” where people meet up regularly to discuss their mortality, and even a popular festival called “We’re All Going To Die”.

Perhaps we don't need to get into a body bag just yet, but maybe DeathTok is a good place to start coming to grips with this concept – depending on where you’re at in your journey.