by Aaron Rodgers Confronts His Fear of Death
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Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers has established himself as one of the greatest NFL players of all time over the past decade. However, behind his on-field success was a deeply personal fear that plagued Rodgers for much of his life – a fear of death.
In a recent interview, Rodgers opened up about how a childhood fear stemming from Y2K hysteria manifested into an irrational worry that he might die before achieving his dreams of playing in the NFL. This fear followed Rodgers well into adulthood, causing anxiety and preventing him from fully embracing life.
Luckily, Rodgers found a unique way to confront this fear head-on – through the therapeutic use of psychedelic plants and fungi. His experiences with psychedelics like psilocybin mushrooms helped Rodgers achieve a profound perspective shift that allowed him to make peace with his own mortality.
The Origins of Rodgers’ Fear
Rodgers traced the roots of his fear back to his teenage years in the late 1990s. At that time, the approaching new millennium sparked widespread doomsday predictions and conspiracy theories surrounding the so-called “Y2K bug.” Computer programmers warned that dates coded as two digits (such as ’99’) instead of four (such as ‘1999’) could cause systems to malfunction or even fail entirely at the start of 2000.
The fearmongering reached a fever pitch as December 31, 1999 approached. Millions of people genuinely believed planes might fall from the sky, power grids could shut down, and nuclear weapons systems could launch due to the date change. Rodgers, who was 15 at the time, took these predictions to heart.
“I grew up with all the Y2K hysteria and fears of planes falling from the sky and the world ending,” Rodgers recalled. “As a kid, that stuff really stuck with me.”
This planted an irrational seed of fear in Rodgers’ mind – the fear that he might not survive to adulthood or achieve his dreams due to some cataclysmic Y2K event. Of course, when 2000 arrived without incident, the hysteria subsided. But for Rodgers, the underlying fear lingered into his adult life.
Fear Follows Rodgers to the NFL
Even after making his NFL debut with the Packers in 2005, Rodgers still struggled with anxiety about his mortality. The fear manifested as a persistent worry that he might die in a freak accident before winning a Super Bowl or cementing his legacy as an all-time great quarterback.
“I had this underlying fear for a long time that I wasn’t going to live past 30 or 35,” Rodgers said. “I was always worried that I wouldn’t fulfill my dreams or achieve everything I wanted to in this career before my time was up.”
This fear caused Rodgers stress and prevented him from fully relaxing or enjoying life off the field. He constantly felt a sense of pressure to accomplish as much as possible in case something happened to cut his career or life short. It also made Rodgers reluctant to commit to relationships out of a fear of leaving behind loved ones.
“It really held me back in a lot of ways,” Rodgers admitted. “I wasn’t able to let loose and have fun because in the back of my mind was always this worry about dying young. It made me hesitant to open up to people or pursue things that truly mattered to me.”
The Fear-Confronting Experience
It wasn’t until his 30s that Rodgers found a way to confront this long-held fear through psychedelic therapy. While on vacation in South America in 2020, Rodgers had a profound experience taking psilocybin mushrooms, also known as magic mushrooms.
Psilocybin is one of several classic psychedelic compounds, like LSD and DMT, currently being studied for their therapeutic potential in treating mental health conditions like depression, anxiety and addiction. Rodgers’ experience highlighted how these substances can also help people achieve perspective-shifting insights about existential fears.
“It was an incredibly meaningful experience that completely changed how I view life and death,” Rodgers said. “It allowed me to let go of this fear I’d carried since childhood. I was able to see that there’s really nothing to be afraid of.”
During his psilocybin journey, Rodgers said he felt an intense sense of interconnectedness with all of nature, humanity and the cosmos. He witnessed the cyclical nature of life, seeing birth, death and rebirth as natural parts of the grand cycle rather than something to fear.
This gave Rodgers a profound sense of calm acceptance of his own mortality. He realized that even if he died young, his energy and essence would live on through those he impacted. Most importantly, Rodgers came to understand that death is simply a natural transition rather than an end – freeing him from the fear of nonexistence after death.
“It was like a weight was lifted off my shoulders,” Rodgers explained. “I realized I didn’t need to be afraid of death or feel pressure to accomplish everything before my time was up. I could just live fully in each moment and appreciate the journey of life rather than obsess over some imagined end point.”
Living Fully Without Fear
In the years since his psilocybin experience, Rodgers says the effects have remained profoundly life-changing. Freed from his fear of death, he’s been able to fully embrace each day and pursue what truly matters to him off the field as well.
That includes finally committing to a serious relationship, getting engaged to actress Shailene Woodley in 2021. Rodgers is also more present with loved ones like his family. And on the field, he plays with a relaxed confidence and joy rather than stress over potential outcomes.
“It’s allowed me to live freely without that underlying fear and anxiety holding me back,” Rodgers said. “I’m able to appreciate the beauty in each moment rather than constantly worrying about an imagined future. I’m so grateful to psychedelics for helping me achieve that perspective shift and peace with myself.”
Rodgers hopes speaking openly about his experience will help normalize the therapeutic potential of psychedelics. He believes many people grapple with existential fears or other mental health issues that could benefit from a properly facilitated psychedelic journey. With more research underway, Rodgers is optimistic these medicines may become legal treatment options to help others.
In the meantime, Rodgers continues enjoying his football career and personal life to the fullest. At 38, he’s coming off back-to-back MVP seasons and is in the prime of his Hall of Fame career. But more importantly, Rodgers is simply enjoying each day without fear – a gift he credits psychedelics for providing after confronting his deepest anxieties head-on.
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