Death Anxiety Flashcards
(32 cards)
What is a transdiagnostic construct?
It is a construct that features across many disorders (e.g., low self-esteem, perfectionism) and represents a causal mechanism that might be behind several disorder (e.g., rumination).
What are transdiagnostic constructs important?
Because most people who present for psychological treatment will have many comorbid disorders. Transdiagnostic treatment targets the overlapping feature underlying each disorder, instead of treating one specific diagnosis.
To a certain extent, death anxiety is considered normal, why?
Because humans are the only one’s who can contemplate our own mortality and anxiety about dying is a central part of the human condition.
Death anxiety was recorded throughout all of written history, what was a common theme, or how was it commonly depicted?
Often it was someone grappling with the fear of their own death after seeing the mortality of a friend.
In 1973, a cultural anthropologist published a book that posited one of the first theories on death anxiety (‘the denial of death’). What was his theory?
That humans have an innate motivation to live BUT we also know that death is inevitable. This can produce a crippling fear.
Terror Management Theory was developed by social psychologists, what is it?
It follows on from the idea that humans have death anxiety because of the ‘motivation to live’ + ‘inevitability of death’. In order to grapple with that conflict, humans have two main buffers that act to counter the biological reality:
- Cultural worldview: embracing cultural beliefs that give people more durable forms of meaning and value than the inevitability of death.
- Self-esteem: gain meaning by fulfilling expectations of a cultural worldview.
There have been many studies on Terror Management Theory that make ‘Mortality Salient’ to the participant and show the impact of death on their behaviour. If someone displays ‘abnormal’ behaviour, according to the theory, what is happening?
The buffers aren’t working properly, and people aren’t embracing the cultural beliefs that give them meaning or they don’t have self-esteem and are reduced to fear their mortality, or their insignificance.
It has been recently suggested that death anxiety might be at the root of many mental disorders, and a significant transdiagnostic construct. If so, what does this show that the field of psychology is getting wrong?
That the disorders are not discreet independent events, but there is an underlying disorder (the fear of death). This would explain the ‘revolving door’ of mental health (people coming and going getting different diagnoses).
What role does death anxiety play in Panic Disorder?
Death anxiety is argued to play a central role in panic disorder.
People with this disorder report significantly higher death fears than others.
Those with comorbid disorders reported higher levels of death anxiety than individuals who only met criteria for one disorder.
What role does death anxiety play in Somatic Symptom Disorder, Illness Anxiety, Hypochondriasis (
Death anxiety is argued to be the central feature, as these people worry that they are about to die, even if there is no evidence.
What role does death anxiety play in Agoraphobia & Separation Anxiety Disorder?
Many symptoms of these disorders are associated with fears of death. For example, catastrophic thinking, worries about a terrible event.
What correlation was found in Separation Anxiety Disorder and death anxiety?
As the fear of death increased, the fear of separation from a loved on also increased.
Why is death anxiety seen as a core factor of Agoraphobia?
Because Agoraphobia often develops after a traumatic event, such as loosing a loved one. And being faced with this mortality stops the person from wanting to leave their home.
It has been suggested that separation anxiety may (what?) death anxiety.
It has been suggested that separation anxiety may mask death anxiety.
Compared to controls, what was increased among individuals with Borderline Personality Disorder and Schizophrenia?
Both death anxiety and separation anxiety.
What did Freud suggest about Specific Phobias in relation to the fear of death?
That the fear of death underlies all phobias.
This is probably true, as the things that people are often scared of are things that can potentially kill them - BUT they are also smaller things that can be managed by the person, or avoided by them. It’s like managing one’s own fear of death.
What is death anxiety’s role in PTSD?
As PTSD develops after being exposed to death, threatened death, actual or serious injury, it is believed that death anxiety plays a massive role in the development and maintenance of PTSD.
From a Terror Management Theory perspective, why is death anxiety so related to PTSD?
Because after experiencing a ‘death event’, the person’s anxiety buffers may be disrupted. The severity of symptoms is dependent on both the severity of trauma and the prior strength of buffers.
What is the underlying fear of PTSD?
The underlying fear of PTSD is death.
A study exposed two groups to ‘mortality salience’ content and observed their subsequent death-related thoughts. The two groups contained people with: high PTSD symptoms and low PTSD symptoms. What were the results?
What does this indicate?
After MS exposure:
- High PTSD had an immediate increase in death-related thoughts.
- Low PTSD suppressed death thoughts.
It indicates that PTSD is caused by the inability to suppress death thoughts.
What is the role of death anxiety in Depressive Disorders?
Depressive Disorders may be exacerbated by existential despair and lack of meaning (fear of death).
Looking at death anxiety in people with Depressive Disorders, what might help with the treatment of the disorder (according to the terror management theory)?
Bolstering worldview beliefs may increase the feeling that life is meaningful among depressed individuals.
What did death anxiety correlate with in a study of individual’s with eating disorders?
It correlated with the eating disorder, perfectionism and low self esteem.
In a study that first reminded participants (both men and women) about death, what behaviour occurred afterwards when they were offered food?
After being reminded of death, the women ate much less than the men. This is because, a common worldview for women (that might make them feel meaningful or valid) is thinness, so in order to buffer from the fear of death, they must restrict their eating.
