Death Anxiety

Presenter:Rida Khan

Description

• Apprehension towards dying

• Fear of non-existence

• Importance in healthcare

• Goal of therapy

Attributes

Emotion• Threat to

existence• Amygdala;

hippocampus

Cognitive • Self cannot

exist state• Death salience • Too much focus

on living

Experiential • Denial

repression • Self-

regulation

Developmental• Developmental

stage• Identity crises• Ego integrity vs.

despair; Firestone

Sociocultural shaping• Cultures’ duty• Different

meaning

Motivation • Conflict• Finite vs.

infinite• Psychological

defenses

AntecedentsStressful Environments

Threatening situationsIraq invasion of Kuwait study

Diagnosis of fatal illness

Cancer patients; terminally ill

Experiences with death & dying

Death of beloved

Funeral studies

ConsequencesAdaptive Defend culture

West – materialism

Maladaptive

Mental health

-vity towards aging/oldWithdrawal; self-mutilation

STUDIES

Anxiety in the dying child

• Terminally ill children under 5 – loneliness

• Seriousness of illness

• Altered surrounding environment

• Threatening illness

Death anxiety in the outpatient leukemic child

• Comparison b/w chronically ill and leukemic

• Dolls reflect separation

• Leukemic children more preoccupied

- threat to body integrity

- difficulty adapting

- older children – higher anxiety

Clinical Implications

• Intervention is vital

• Assess and manage death anxiety

• Acknowledgement helps direct lives

• Target developmental stage

• Lehto, R. H., & Stein, K. F. (2009). Death anxiety: an analysis of an evolving concept. Research and theory for nursing practice, 23(1), 23-41.

• Maglio, C. J., & Robinson, S. E. (1994). The effects of death education on death anxiety: A meta-analysis. OMEGA--Journal of Death and Dying, 29(4), 319-335.

• Spinetta, J. J., & Maloney, L. J. (1975). Death anxiety in the outpatient leukemic child. Pediatrics, 56(6), 1034-1037.

• Spinetta, J. J., Rigler, D., & Karon, M. (1973). Anxiety in the dying child. Pediatrics, 52(6), 841-845.

References