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What “On the Beach” Taught Me About How to Approach Death
What if you knew death was coming slowly and unstoppably at you? How would you meet your end?
I had first heard of On the Beach by Nevil Shute when I was in high school. Those days, the Berlin Wall was falling, diplomatic relations between Russia and the United States were warming, and the world seemed to be pulling back from the brink of nuclear war. It seemed as if the doctrine of Mutual Assured Destruction had prevented the annihilation of humanity long enough for the two nuclear superpowers to stop being at each other’s throats.
Thirty years later, and the world is still on the brink.
I live with generalized anxiety disorder. There is something about my brain that drives me to worry excessively about things I should not be worrying about. Or, if I am supposed to worry about something, I worry more than necessary. That is why things like nuclear war, a deadly pandemic, or the health of my daughter keep me up at night. The talk therapy makes it better, and my age and experience with epidemiology and biostatistics have allowed me to be calmer about things. I crunch the numbers in my head, take some deep breaths, and talk myself off the ledge.
