Menzies R. E. - Curing the Dread of Death

Contents

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Curing the Dread of Death: Theory, Research and Practice.

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Dedication

For Mum, Dad and Lachlan. Thank you for your
endless love and support REM.

For James William (Jim) Ovens, who showed me the
art of dying RGM.

For John and David, who have taught me
to embrace the complexities of life with strength
and tenderness LI.

The opening chapter reviews the way in which various cultures have dealt with death from ancient times until the present. The role of death anxiety in myth and ritual, religion, art and literature are explored. It will be argued that communities across history have developed a range of ways to deny and conquer death.

This chapter traces the natural history of death anxiety across the lifespan. The developmental literature will be reviewed to explore childrens growing understanding of the construct of death across the first decade of life. The moderating factors of gender, age, religiosity, and health status are reviewed, as is the intriguing observation that death fears typically diminish in the last decades of life.

Kuperus overviews the common threads in the philosophic positions of Sartre, Nietzsche, Camus, and related European philosophers of the late 19th century and early 20th century. The central existential concepts of absurdism, angst and responsibility will be introduced. It will be shown that existentialism emphasises the significance of living this life well, rather than fearing death.

Mikulincer applies attachment theory to explain the ways people experience and cope with the existential concerns of mortality and meaninglessness. The chapter reviews evidence that a sense of attachment security a sense that the world is generally safe, other people are generally helpful, and Im valuable and lovable provides a psychological foundation for easing existential anxieties and constructing an authentic sense of continuity, coherence, meaning, connectedness, and autonomy.

It is a broadly held view that Sigmund Freud dismissed death as being of little significance to our psychic struggles. While superficially true, this bland claim is an oversimplification of his theoretical position. Menzies and Menzies explore the contradictory nature of Freuds theorising on the death instinct and death anxiety, before examining modern psychoanalytic conceptions of our dynamic struggle with death.

In this chapter, an intelligent design theory of the origins and functions of religion is developed by integrating useful ideas from both evolutionary and existential perspectives. Pyszczynski and Thompson argue that integrating evolved cognitive proclivities emphasised by evolutionary theories with the emphasis on the motivational and emotional forces that bias these processes provides a more complete understanding of the origins and function of religion.

Lisa Iverach examines the evidence suggesting that death anxiety is a transdiagnostic construct that underpins the anxiety disorders, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), panic and somatoform disorders, mood disorders and even eating disorders. It is argued that death anxiety must be tackled directly to improve long-term outcomes in mental health.

This chapter explores possible misinterpretations of the existential philosophers that have been made by the public, various writers, and even some developers of existential therapeutic schools. Reductionist and nonreductionist existential therapies are described in detail. Finally, an integrative existential-psychotherapeutic perspective on death will be suggested, with an overview of specific competencies and a review of empirical evidence.

This chapter provides a review of the central cognitive and behavioural procedures that have been trialled in the treatment of death anxiety in clinical and non-clinical populations.

No group more directly face death and impermanence than the terminally ill. Accordingly, end-of-life care may inform the treatment of death anxiety. The range of psychological approaches used in end-of-life care will be described and reviewed.

Detachment from loved ones who have died is often considered to be a healthy grief response in western societies. However, in more collectivist cultures it is argued that continuing ties to loved ones who have died is an important part of grieving. This chapter will explore the application of continuing bonds as part of grief therapy.

Terror management theory proposes that high self-esteem buffers against death fears and existential dread. Individuals with low self-esteem have been shown to be particularly vulnerable to mortality priming in the laboratory. Accordingly, this chapter reviews the literature on various cognitive behavioural approaches to low self-esteem. Emphasis is placed on incorporating terror management theory (TMT) into cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT), acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) and dialectical behaviour therapy (DBT) when dealing with self-esteem.

Drawing on material presented in earlier chapters, and European existential thinking, this chapter provides an overview of therapeutic interventions for dealing with and confronting the fear of death. Starting from a case example, the authors explore religious and philosophical approaches as well as ways of including therapeutic tools such as literature and music in the therapeutic context.