Death anxiety
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Death anxiety can be regarded as a widespread apprehension, but one which can have a severe impact on everyday functioning, particularly in relationships and may therefore benefit from therapeutic intervention
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[edit] Theories on death and related anxiety
[edit] Theory of Sigmund Freud
Sigmund Freud (1856–1939) postulated that people express a fear of death; he called it thanatophobia. However, this was merely a disguise for a deeper source of concern. It was not actually death that people feared, because nobody believes in her or his own death. The unconscious does not deal with the passage of time or with negations. That one's life could and would end just does not compute. Furthermore, that which one does fear cannot be death itself, because one has never died. People who express death-related fears, then, actually are trying to deal with unresolved childhood conflicts that they cannot bring themselves to acknowledge and discuss openly.[1]
[edit] Theory of Becker
Becker's existential view turned death anxiety theory towards a new dimension. It stated that death anxiety is not only real, but also it is people's most profound source of concern. He described this anxiety as so intense that it can generate fears and phobias of everyday life. Fears of being alone or in a confined space are some examples of its impact. According to this theory, much of people's daily behavior consists of attempts to deny death and thereby keep their basic anxiety under control.[2]
[edit] Theory of M S Hossain
Mohammad Samir Hossain, an Asian mental health researcher physician from Bangladesh, developed the Death and Adjustment Hypotheses that were published in the social science theory book QUEST FOR A NEW DEATH: Death and Adjustment Hypotheses written on death and dying by Professor Hossain. [3] and reviewed at Death Studies, the peer reviewed journal of Biomedical Social Sciences, that quoted it as a pacemaker in one important movement in science with a potentially different sort of impact on civilization giving death the centrality for human life[4]. With the declaration of the hypotheses two things were postulated. The first part of the hypotheses postulates that death should not be considered the end of existence. The second part postulates that the immortal pattern of human existence can only be adopted in a morally rich life with the attitude towards morality and materialism in a mutual state of balance.
[edit] Some other theories
Other approaches about death anxiety were introduced in the late twentieth century. Terror management theory is based on studies finding that people who felt better about themselves also reported having less death-related anxiety. Another approach named Regret Theory was proposed in 1996 by Adrian Tomer and Grafton Eliason. It approaches on the way in which people evaluate the quality or worth of their lives. The prospect of death is likely to make people more anxious if they feel that they have not and cannot accomplish something good in life.[5]
[edit] See also
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