The relationship between death anxiety and severity of mental illnesses

Abstract

Objectives: Death anxiety has been implicated theoretically and empirically in mental health and has been proposed to be a transdiagnostic construct. However, it has largely been investigated in relation to specific disorders, such as obsessive-compulsive disorder. Few studies have assessed the relationship between death anxiety and psychopathology using heterogeneous treatment-seeking clinical samples.

Methods: In the present study, the relationships between death anxiety and broad markers of psychopathology were explored in 200 treatment-seeking participants with various diagnosed mental disorders.

Results: Across the sample, death anxiety was a strong predictor of psychopathology, including the number of lifetime diagnoses, medications, hospitalizations, distress/impairment, depression, anxiety, and stress. This relationship was not accounted for by neuroticism. Large to very large correlations were also consistently found between a measure of death anxiety and the symptom severity of 12 disorders. Neither meaning in life nor attachment style moderated the associations between death fears and psychopathology.

Conclusions: The findings reveal a strong relationship between death anxiety and psychopathology across numerous disorders, further supporting the transdiagnostic role of fears of death. As such, clinical implications revolve around the potential need for innovative treatments which address death fears directly, in order to produce long-term improvements in mental health. However, experimental research is needed to ascertain causal relationships.

Practitioner points: Across a large treatment-seeking sample, death anxiety was a significant predictor of broad psychopathology, including distress and number of lifetime diagnoses. Across 12 different disorders, death anxiety significantly predicted symptom severity. Results may suggest the need for novel treatments which specifically target fears of death. Due to the correlational design, future experimental research is needed to establish causal relationships with increased confidence.

Keywords: death anxiety; fear of death; psychopathology; transdiagnostic.