Death Anxiety

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There are two things in this life that we are all bound to encounter, stress and death. Stress is something that affects each and every human, each and every day. Some of us may have higher levels of stress than others. One reaction to stress may be anxiety. Anxiety is a physiological, as well as a psychological state. Anxiety may be viewed as a “more intense” form of stress. Each person will differ when it comes to their own personal causes of anxiety but quite a common worrisome form is that of death anxiety. Every living human being will eventually die, that is a universal truth but quite a bitter pill to swallow. What happens after death? Why is it my time to die? When will I die? How will I die? Etc. These are the types of questions that one with the death anxiety disorder would ask themselves’ on a daily basis. Such thoughts are not immune to the sufferers of this disorder; they simply have a much more difficult time putting such issues to rest. In fact, it is safe to assume that such a powerful idea could possibly affect the everyday life.

“In Western society there is a strong tendency to avoid confrontation with death-related themes, but as people get older a decreased time perspective forces them to face the finite nature of life (Article 9, pg. 1)”. One whom is afflicted with such anxiety may point to the fact that since we are conscious beings, we are able to think about such ideas and they are unavoidable. Quite naturally, the act of “dying” is something that we have no power over. Many variables can affect death anxiety and it is not a discriminatory disorder by any means. No matter what the differences are between human beings, we all experience similar events such as birth and death. Birth is a joyous occasion, ...

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