Death anxiety refers to apprehension and fear towards dying and non-existence. It is an emotion driven by the threat to one's existence and processed in the amygdala and hippocampus regions of the brain. Cognitively, death anxiety stems from the belief that the self cannot exist and an overfocus on living. Developmentally, it is shaped by one's stage of identity development and experiences with death. Socio-culturally, different cultures attribute different meanings to death and view it through the lens of one's duties. Death anxiety has adaptive and maladaptive consequences and clinical implications for intervention and management to direct lives.

1. Death Anxiety
Presenter:
Rida Khan

2. Description
• Apprehension towards dying
• Fear of non-existence
• Importance in healthcare
• Goal of therapy

3. Attributes
Emotion
•Threat to
existence
•Amygdala;
hippocampus
Cognitive
•Self cannot exist
state
•Death salience
•Too much focus
on living
Experiential
• Denial
repression
• Self-
regulation

4. Developmental
• Developmental
stage
• Identity crises
• Ego integrity vs.
despair; Firestone
Sociocultural
shaping
•Cultures’ duty
•Different
meaning
Motivation
•Conflict
•Finite vs.
infinite
•Psychological
defenses

5. Antecedents
Stressful
Environments
Threatening situations
Iraq invasion of Kuwait study
Diagnosis of
fatal illness
Cancer patients;
terminally ill
Experiences
with death &
dying
Death of beloved
Funeral studies

6. Consequences
Adaptive Defend culture
West – materialism
Maladaptive Mental health
-vity towards aging/old
Withdrawal; self-mutilation

8. Anxiety in the dying child
• Terminally ill children under 5 – loneliness
• Seriousness of illness
• Altered surrounding environment
• Threatening illness

9. 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

10. Clinical Implications
• Intervention is vital
• Assess and manage death anxiety
• Acknowledgement helps direct lives
• Target developmental stage

11. • 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