Definition
Fear of death can be defined as the anxiety experienced in daily life caused by the anticipation of death. It can be the result of facing death through illness and aging or experiencing circumstances that force a confrontation with the idea of death. It can also include many aspects of dying, such as pain and suffering, feelings of abandonment, loss of dignity, and of “nonbeing,” not living up to one’s potential (May 1983; Heidegger 1962).
Denial
… No one believes in his own death. In the unconscious, everyone is convinced of his own immortality (Freud 1953–1966).
Ernest Becker, the author of Pulitzer Prize winner, The Denial of Death, maintains that death denial is a basic human motivation and a universal biological need. The terror of death is so overwhelming, he says, that man conspires to keep it buried in the unconscious network of defense mechanisms where it is repressed.
Irvin Yalom, noted American existential psychiatrist, would agree that death anxiety is a basic...
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Bibliography
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Crusalis, B.S. (2014). Death Anxiety. In: Leeming, D.A. (eds) Encyclopedia of Psychology and Religion. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-6086-2_155
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