Psychology of Death

1
Psychology of Death
2
Factors Contributing to Death Denial

• 1) Secularization of American Society
• 2) Deritualization of Grief
• 3) Growth of Medical Technology Around the Dying
• 4) Increased Unrealistic Attention and Focus on
  Death

3
Denial of Death

• 3 primary styles of denial
• 1) simply ignore death
• 2) lessen the harshness of death
• 3) distorted preoccupation with death

4
Fear of Death

• 3 primary categories of fear
• 1) Fear of the Process of Dying
• 2) Fear of the Loss of Life
• 3) Fear of What Happens After Death

5
Death Anxiety

• 4 measurement instruments
• 1) Death Anxiety Scale (Templer)
• 2) Threat Index (Krieger, Epting and Leitner)
• 3) Collett-Lester Fear of Death Scale
• 4) Holter Multidimensional Fear of Death Scale

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Patterns of Response to Death

• 1) Death Acceptance
• 2) Death Defiance
• 3) Death Denial

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Cultural Diversity and Funeral Practices

• 1) Jewish Religion and Culture
• 2) African-American Culture
• 3) Native American Culture
• 4) Mexican-American Culture

8
Childhood Awareness of Death

• Nagy
• Level 1 (birth to age 5)
• Level 2 (ages 5-9)
• Level 3 (ages 9 and up)
• Piaget
• Grollman
• birth to 3 years
• 3-5 years
• 5-9 years
• 9 years and up
• Canine and Dates

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Factors Influencing How a Child Interprets Death

• Developmental Stage
• Personality
• Life Experiences
• Emotional Support

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Explaining Death to Children

• Grollman what not to say
• Make believe stories or fairy tales
• Something you dont believe yourself
• Mother has gone on a long journey
• God took Daddy away because He wants and loves
  the good in heaven
• Daddy is now in heaven
• Grandma dies because she was sick
• To die is to sleep

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Explaining Death to Children (contd)

• Grollman what to say
• Share your own religious convictions with your
  own child only.
• Speak in concrete terms rather than philosophical
  ones.
• Grant permission to cry and express feelings.
• Acknowledge when you do not know the answer.

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Young Adults

• Piaget
• Capable of concepts of time, space and causality
• Can hypothesize, theorize and personalize
• Form abstract ideas about the nature of death
• Formulate their own theologies
• Males and females differ in their orientations
• Death-related issues are acted out

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Midlife

• Death Issues
• Caring for a dying parent
• Death of a parent validates ones own mortality
• Must find balance between societys emphasis on
  youthfulness and a physical body that is getting
  older

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Geriatric

• Place a greater emphasis on life and living
• Generally not intimidated by death
• Many are accepting of the closeness of death
• Have a lower death anxiety than younger age
  groups
• Widows have more physical symptoms than widowers