Running head: DEATH ANXIETY Death Anxiety Name of the Student: Name of the University: Author note:
DEATH ANXIETY1 Every individual is going to encounter stress and death, some day or the other. Stress refers to the feeling of physical and emotional tension and it affects every human being each and every day. Anxiety refers to a psychological and physiological state of unease and nervousness. It is the natural body response to stress. It is a feeling of fear and apprehension of what is to come and what one has to face. One of the very common anxieties among individuals is of death anxiety. It is an anxiety that is caused by the thought of death in an individual. According to Sinoff (2017), death anxiety is “a feeling of dread, apprehension or solicitude (anxiety) when one thinks of the process of dying, or ceasing to ‘be”. However, death, stress and the other emotional responses that a person feels toward such topics are some of the very challenging issues to address. This paper is going to elaborate on death anxiety and the various other factors that contribute to it. It shall shed light in various other elements such as grieving, the different stages and patterns of grieving and the different stages of dying. Furthermore, the paper shall assess the roles of age, gender and religiosity in death anxiety within an individual. What is Grief? In death anxiety, one of the very natural responses to losing someone or something among human beings is that of grief. While grieving, man feels the variety of emotions such as lonelinessor sadness and he or she might feel that for several differentreasons. Notwithstanding this fact, it is to state that grief is one of an integral part of the human condition. Everyone human beings have lost or will have to lose someone they love beyond all telling. One of the most difficult death to deal with by the human beings is that of the death of a spouse or partner. It has also been found by Kaprio, Koskenvuo and Rita (1987) that men have stronger reactions than women and that- the risk of death gets increased in the months after the loss. Also, as per Jordanova et al. (2007), young people more possibly to have stronger reactions, but not hugely so. The social nature of human beings makes them
DEATH ANXIETY2 want to develop a bond and to create an attachment with the others. Grief is the price of all those bonds and attachments of love that a person makes in his life. According to Rafaelli and Sutton (2014), grief demands an expression of some very strong and powerful emotions. Man always seek opportunities for telling and retelling the events that take place in his life and the memories and stories that he has created.These are the reflections of their deep love for the other person who have died or is going to die. Therefore, it is so hard when man finds none to talk to, none to share his feelings and emotions. Several patterns of grieving There are several patterns of grief. Grief before the lossis the type of grief which a person encounter for a bit longer period and in this case, both the person, the one who is ill and the one who is the caregiver, recognise the possible fatal result and at the same time, both of them try to deny that. According to Draper et al. (2018), this period is often called as the time of anticipatory grieving. However, no matter how clear the result is and how prepared is the one who believes he is, the actual death actually comes as a surprise. On the other hand, thegrief after the lossis somewhat different. The very first hour after the loss and even after days or weeks after the death, people often recall later to be as a surprise. Such kind of denying the painful information about the death temporarily is called the grief after the loss. Everyone in their lifetime suffers from this stage. It is also to mention in this context that, along with such a psychological distress, the grief of an individual disrupts the normal physical functions of his body. Such an abrupt change in his or her pattern or way of living that is caused by the absence of that significant person in their life, disrupts their brain as well astheirbiologicalrhythms,particularlythehormonal,immune,nervousandthe cardiovascular systems. Such a psychological change results in common physical symptoms of the grief. Like, for example, it can be impossible for the person to concentrate and keep his or her attention in the work that he or she is doing or any other topic on which he or she is
DEATH ANXIETY3 speaking or hearing. Along with these, the choking sensation as well as the sighing respirations are some of the very common sensations that take place often in an individual while they are crying. They might feel weak and fatigued. They find it difficult to sleep as well. Also, many of the times, to this individuals, food seems to be tasteless or little taste. Often, people also suffer from weight loss and illness in addition to being sad and quiet. It is to note that it is the stage of super mental and physical disorganisation within an individual. He might even try to distance himself from his peers and family members and might seek for being alone. Such a complex picture persists for near about six weeks and sometimes, a year as well. However, the other type of grief is the one that followsan unexpected deathof a near and dear one. Cancer is often regarded to be a disease in which individual often get ample of time for preparing himself for the loss and to say the final Good-bye, but it is to note that, it is not precisely the case. Sometimes, there is no time for either of the person who is suffering from the very disease or their loved ones for accepting what is taking place in a whirlwind of overwhelming medical issues and all the failed treatments. They just had to accept what is going on as there is nothing in their hand to do. The various different stages of grief and dying As per Ross (2015), emotional responses among human beings resulted in a total of five stages of grief. She has developed a five-stage model that signifies the five stage of death in human beings. Those stages are- denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance. During the first stage ofdenial, the initial emotional response to the knowledge of impending the death is denial. In this stage, the man cannot accept the fact that it is he who is suffering from the situation, it is he who is going to die. As per her, this stage serves as a defence mechanism. t is to state that denying the inevitable helps in easing the fearful thoughts and anxiety. For instance, a woman who is diagnosed with cancer might be rigid that the results of the test are incorrect and he thinks that he can beat the odds of the survival. The second
End of preview
Want to access all the pages? Upload your documents or become a member.
Related Documents
Grief and Bereavement in the Adult Palliative Carelg...
|9
|2658
|246
Understanding Suicide in Relation with Grief and Losslg...
|7
|1945
|81
Grief And Bereavement Assignmentlg...
|10
|2836
|697
Grief Theories: Understanding the Different Approaches to Coping with Losslg...
|5
|1027
|489
Impact of Guiding and Supporting Carers in Grieving Processlg...