Throughout my entire life I have never really given much thought to the subject of death. To be more accurate: throughout my entire life I have never allowed myself to give much thought to the subject of death. Both of my parents are very easy going, optimistic individuals so death was not a subject that was ever really touched on. The only times that I really remember discussing it was in church (and I rarely ever paid attention to this). Despite this lack of contemplation, I have always known that I am very anxious about death, so when I filled out the attitudes towards death and Leming 's fear of death survey’s I was not in the least surprised to find that my answers coincided with high death anxiety. Death anxiety is defined in the textbook as emotional distress and insecurity when faced with reminders of mortality (Kastenbaum, 2012). This is an extremely accurate description of the way I react to death. As stated in the attitudes towards death survey, I don’t like to talk about my own death, nor do I like it when my loved ones try to talk to me about their death. When the subject of dying arises I am automatically overwhelmed with feelings of panic and try to change the conversation. It has been shown that women in general have a higher death anxiety (Kastenbaum, 2012) and I am also a very anxious person in general so these probably contribute to it, however, from taking this course I have learned that the biggest contributor is my thoughts about the meaning of death.
Death is an unknown place that people tend to avoid because of the fear that surrounds it. But, there should be fear or anxiety that has built up because being in a strange place will definitely add anxiety and fear to a person. Ron Scranton confirms this idea by saying. “learning how to die isn’t easy… I was terrified by the idea”. From the time when he was in the army, he had no choice but to face the idea of death. What seems to scare individuals the most is the thought and process
“The People Paradox” by Janis L. Dickinson, explains that thinking about mortality creates mental issues. Thankfully, the human brain suppresses thoughts of death allowing individuals to carry on comfortably. Furthermore, Dickinson proposed that human beings are predisposed to suppress thoughts of death to manage anxiety about the inevitability of mortality. Additionally, Dickinson suggests we repress thoughts of death by pushing them out of consciousness and creating a mythical, culturally and socially informed reality that increases an individual's self esteem. Dickenson elaborates by stating that individuals reduce anxiety about mortality by projecting power and importance onto an idealized other or god.
Research Report: Review of the Literature on Anticipated vs. Unanticipated Death and their Corresponding Coping Skills
They used a hard vocabulary to contain the terrible softness. Greased they 'd say. Offed, lit up, zapped while zipping. It wasn 't cruelty, just stage presence. They were actors. When someone died, it wasn 't quite dying, because in a curious way, it seemed scripted, and because they had their lines mostly memorized, irony mixed with tragedy, and because they called it by other names, as if to encyst and destroy the reality of death itself. "
In this article, “Are We Happier Facing Death,” by the author Sora Song, she discusses that according to the November issue of Psychological Science, when you are asked to think about the occasion of your own demise, you become happier than usual, instead of sadder. Researchers have said it is like a psychological immune response, where you are faced with thoughts of death and the way your body automatically copes with feelings and depression. DeWall, who is a psychologist at the University of Kentucky, and Roy Baumeister of Florida State University, tested a theory which was called the “terror management theory” in multiple experiments which involved 432 undergraduate volunteers. Half of the students were asked to contemplate dying and being
People die everyday all over the world. In United States, people use hundreds of different words to describe death. Generally, people that grow up in the United States tend to view death as a taboo subject and are seen as a topic that should be kept behind closed doors and contracted with an individual or family. A belief system that so many individuals hold to be true has been shaped over the past century. In this culture, death has become something that is enormously feared and as a result, some people stop living their lives to his or her highest potential because of their fear of dying. The effect that death has pertains to individuals of all ages, gender and ethnicities. But unfortunately, how death is viewed it has become more and
Death is a mystery to many of us. You never see death coming and when it does you begin to wonder whether it will go slow and hurt or quick and painless. In the United States around 68% of citizens have a fear of death. “Most are usually quick to point out they are afraid to die painfully—but not of the idea of no longer being alive.” (Alex Lickerman M.D.) While I was looking on the internet it hadn't occurred to me that gender may play a role in the fear of death. “Some interesting findings have emerged from studying the fear of death. For example, women have generally shown more fear of death than men, perhaps because women are more likely to admit to and discuss their fears.” (Angela Morrow, RN) Many Authors incorporate the fear of death into their stories, such as Poe or Chaucer.
My interviewee expressed that she has no real fear of death but does fear the process of dying. She wants to die with her mental health intact as much as possible. She explained she does have some “senior moments” like buying a bag of potatoes when she already had a bag at home and not being able to find the potato peeler which makes it a little tough with the sudden surplus of potatoes. However, she has recently taken some mental evaluations that test things like memory and she scored well on those. She believes there is an existence after this life and that helps her a lot as she
Death is inescapable. Praise God for the life he has blessed his children with. In Elisabeth Kubler-Ross’ novel “On Death & Dying” she effectively explains the dying process in five steps: denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance. The impact of her novel, if given the chance, on the medical field would be tremendous in the attempt of allowing individuals to die with their dignity while also remaining in peace throughout the majority of the process. In reality a funeral should not consist of mourning over what is lost. A funeral should be a celebration of the life the individual was blessed with and the impact they had on the people around them. Truly in the end, death is a blessing to those that believe and a frightening silence to the many that do
Death anxiety is a multifaceted nervousness that can include fear of the process of dying, the death in itself, and what happens after death (Zilberfein and Hurwitz, 2004). Yalom (2002) writes that the fear of death haunts each individual throughout life and that many people build denial-based defense mechanisms in order to cope with an ever-present awareness of death. The process of dying is both known and unknown, and nowhere is death anxiety more apparent than in patients suffering from terminal illness. According to Zilberfein and Hurwitz (2004), fear in patients suffering from fatal diseases can cause: (1) dependency, (2) increased chronic pain, (3) a loss of sense of control, and (4) significant attention paid to the question of what “lies ahead”. Along similar lines, Adelbratt and Strang (2000) conducted a study exploring how patients and their next-of-kin experience death anxiety. They found that thoughts central to this nervousness include fear related to the loss of autonomy and unknown
Usually, a person (or their loved ones) will go through all or some of the following stages of feelings and emotions. The dying person’s stages can often be more predictable than the stages experienced by a loved one who has just suffered a loss.
Writing my own obituary made me feel really uncomfortable, because thinking about my own death just really puts me in a state of depression. It makes me think death is simply the end. I am not the least bit 'afraid' of it, but I do not desire it. Not out of fear of death, but out of love of life. The only bad thing about death is no longer being alive. I don't want to ever leave my family. Not because I will miss them, I, won't I'll be dead, but because they will be sad and will miss me because I’m no longer on this Earth. I don't know how anybody could face the death of a loved one without some sadness and grief. No matter what we believe about death, we will never see that person again, no matter how long we live. We will miss them and grieve their loss. Death does not make me anxious in a hypothetical sense, but of course, since I do not want to die, risks to my life make me feel uncomfortable. I love the idea of being able to be with my friends and family to enjoy life. I wouldn’t want to think about my death because of the fact, I wouldn’t know if I’m going to heaven or hell; although I wouldn’t know. The thought of being closed up in a casket puts some type of fear in my heart, because no one is there with
The word euthanasia comes from the Greek words “eu” which means well and “thanatos” which is derived from death. Euthanasia literally means a “good death” (Davis F.A., 2013, p. 858-859). A good death is different to each person but usually constitutes having friends and family close, dying somewhere familiar, and dying in a comfortable manner with no pain. Voluntary stopping of eating and drinking is beneficial to the terminally ill patient in this way because it helps the family and the patient experience personal closure and it assists with a peaceful end to life. People also view it as an ethically appropriate decision (less controversial) to forgo an unwanted life prolonging measure than active euthanasia. The terminally ill using VSED are in control of their decision until the very end. They can choose at any time to opt out and begin eating/ drinking again. Patient’s die in a very dignified manner of their own accord instead of when their disease tells they should “go” which parallels their want for autonomy in making that choice. VSED is a more humane and dignified way to abide by the wishes of patients who wish to hasten their own death.
I feel that when it is your time to go, you are going. That’s really the only belief that I have about death. Explain how level of death anxiety may be impacted by gender, age and mental health. Death anxiety in gender, women tend to have higher death anxiety scores than men on self-report scales. This does not mean that women get excited over everything it’s just that men usually tend not to show any emotional feelings about an emotional situation. Death anxiety in age, death anxiety is higher in adolescents and early adulthood. Then it decreases as we settle in life and by the time we get old anxiety gets higher again, by the time you reach seventy your anxiety will go back down. By this time in life you start looking forward to death. Most of your friends maybe dead already, your parents, siblings, and spouse by this time may already be deceased so in a way you have embraced death at this point. Death anxiety in mental health and illness, death anxiety is higher in people with diagnosed psychiatric conditions. Selective attention is when you have so much going on and you get distracted. You are not trying to avoid anything your mind is just on somewhere else. Selective response is when a person has thoughts about death but they choose who they want to talk to about it. Compartmentalizing is when you realize and understand that he is in a life-threatening situation and choose to respond to some aspects of the illness. Deception is when someone
Death is a familiar thing to most of us, whether you’ve had a loved one pass or have seen a lot of pain. The reason I picked this topic is because of all the ways and things that can happen, in our lifetime, what is the most scariest thing people have trouble with and death popped into my head. I asked the question, ‘Are you afraid of dying?’ My belief was that the youth would be less likely to be fearful of dying compared to the older populations I interview and researched. I believed that the youth would see it as a long time away and would be more focused with living rather than focusing on something they can’t control. I believe that the elderly would have a bigger problem with death because of all the problems that come with old age. As you age everything becomes closer and is more realistic.