Thanatophobia (Death Anxiety) in the Elderly: The Problem of the Child’s Inability to Assess Their Own Parent’s Death Anxiety State

Abstract

Thanatophobia is omnipresent in our lives. Research has shown separate but connected constructs: fear of death or fear of the dying process. The influences on death anxiety are varied including religiosity, gender, psychological state, and age. It is often assumed by the children of the elderly that the fear of death is prevalent in their parents. Daily the medical staff encounters the presence of death anxiety: from family members or the staff itself. In order to understand this phenomenon, a three-tier study was conducted on non-terminal elderly inpatients in an acute geriatric care ward. The study showed that the elderly had low levels of anxiety (scoring 4/15 on Templer’s Death Anxiety Scale) but their children scored higher for themselves (6.9/15) and for their parents (8.9/15). A regression model showed that only the presence of generalized anxiety and religiosity of parent had an effect explaining 33.6% of the variance. Death anxiety of death is usually absent in the elderly but rather they fear the dying process. On the other hand, their children do fear death, which they extrapolate onto their parents. This causes conflicts since the children prevent disclosure of relevant medical information to their parents. This has to be addressed by the staff when dealing with family members, to allow open and honest communication with their patients. The staff need to explain to the family that the elderly are not afraid of death but of the suffering from the dying process.

Personality traits and fears of death and dying predict ageism

“…According to TMT, humans' drive for survival, paired with our ability to understand the inevitability of death, generates a potential for the fear of death (Greenberg & Kosloff, 2008). Much like ageism, the fear of death is also a multidimensional construct, including the existential fear of not existing and of leaving the known world, as well as the fear of the process of dying (i.e., the material and physical deterioration associated with dying; Lehto & Stein, 2009;Sinoff, 2017). Reminders of mortality, including events, objects, or individuals can exacerbate the fear of death by reminding individuals of their vulnerabilities.…”

Death and dying: elderly persons’ experiences of grief over the loss of family members

“…In most cases death is often looked at from both religious and cultural perspectives in Africa. 2 Religion is said to help provide meaning and answers, and to affirm powerlessness. This phenomenon was found in a study on death and dying amongst the Sudanese community living in Australia, who found great strength in prayer and trust in God and the Bible, saying that God had given them courage in times of adversity, and that when faced with death and illness, prayer helps.…”

“…When death occurs, there is usually an impact on the family and friends of the deceased, the magnitude of which often depends on whether the death was expected or unexpected. 2,3 Loved ones are left behind to go through the grieving process.…”

Hypochondriac concerns and correlates of personality styles and affective states in bipolar I and II disorders

“…Patho-thanatophobia is the core characteristic of hypochondriasis, which covers the fears of death and dying [40] and is closely associated with anxiety [41]. BD II patients exhibit more lifetime phobia and other anxiety disorders [4, 42], which might account for the higher Patho-thanatophobia in BD II than that in BD I.…”