Mortality complex

A mortality complex is a mental state of mind in which one acquires an active case of thanatophobia that will eventually result in death itself. Those with a mortality complex often have a destabilized ego that manifests hallucinations, constant panic & despair, possible state of insanity & eventually death. Eddie Smith, before his untimely end, studyed psychology along with history & concluded that some people had mortality complexes based off his studys of their lives. Victor Underwood, a general to the Alliance for the Survival of Humanity, had this type of mental state due to his early life.

Thanatophobia
Thanatophobia (or necrophobia) is a cause of a mortality complex due to the fear of the concept or cause of death itself. Thanatophobia is the fear of death or the cause of death while necrophobia is the fear of the very concept itself. Thanatophobics are the only ones who can develop a mortality complex as the person must fear death to embrace the psychological state.

Traumatization
A state of traumatic distress or insanity is considered what begins a mortality complex as traumatization, such as the death of an entire family, can be the key part in starting a complex.

Hallucinations
A major player in the effects of the complex is the continuous appearance of hallucinations of objects relative to the idea of death. Being necrophobic, the victims will be frightened by what they see. These objects include gravestones, skulls, bones & in one case, a cemetery.

Polar emotions
The continuous emotional aspects of the complex often range between excitement due to fear activation caused by the appearance of death-related hallucinations & depression from the constant paranoia of the possibility of death. Mortality humans tended to live shorter natural life spans than other humans because of depression. The natural life span of many humans with mortality complexes was between 15-35 years of age while the typical human life span between & after the Dark Wars was 40-70 years until the Global Civil War.

Insanity
Depression & combined hallucinations often cause mental instability that will lead to insanity, arousing more hallucinations & furthering paths to self-destruction, even leading depression to cause the possibility of committing suicide or even beginning a crime spree for mass murder.

Death predictions
Those with a mortality complex often face a premonition that their fate is coming with the above symptoms intensifyed & precise circumstances on how they will die, though not in a clear manner. For example, Victor Underwood, who experienced this in the time before his kidnapping by the shadowghosts, had hallucinations of his own corpse & the ocean. Being driven insane, he wasn't able to connect the dots to realize that he would die drowning in the ocean. During his final moments, he finally realized what his death was & knew that what he'd seen would come true. Eddie Smith even made a private prediction to James Anderson about his death nearing as he was also a victim to the complex, except his case was more controlled. His reasons for his predictions were visions of a blinding flash of red light from a robotic arm & New York II under attack & a deja vu feeling due to the time loop paradox Luke Anderson caused.

Treatment & Cure
There is no cure for anything, especially psychological states of trauma such as this. The only known way to effectively treat the condition is to relieve the person's mind of the condition by distraction. In the case of Victor Underwood, doing what is enjoyed by the person is considered a way of treating it.

Known victims

 * Luke Anderson
 * Eddie Smith (not known until his post-mortem years)
 * Victor Underwood (most famous case)