Death anxiety among New Zealanders: the predictive role of gender and marital status

The aim of this cross-sectional study was to investigate attitudes of New Zealanders towards death and dying. We administered an online version of Collett–Lester Fear of Death Scale and Concerns About Dying Instrument subscales to a representative sample of the New Zealand population. In total, 1001 people responded to the survey. Women reported more anxiousness concerning their own death (p?=?.001) and dying at a young age (p?>?.001). Women also showed more agreement towards spiritual aspects of dying (p?>?.001). Single female respondents worry more about dying (p =?.02) especially when young (p?=?.003). Single participants (p >?.001) aged 18 and 29 (p?>?.001) reported higher anxiety for Items relating to the death of others especially concerning never being able to communicate with the person again. Our findings show that marital status and gender strongly predict higher levels of death anxiety among New Zealanders. This is probably due to the cultural identity of those sampled.     

对死亡恐惧的形而上追问

死亡恐惧与自我意识相伴而生,成为人类无法根除的永恒性焦虑。它既根源于他人之死呈现出的经验性恐惧,也来自于拒斥死亡的社会文化所导致的认知性恐惧以及面临“自我”之死时产生的形而上恐惧。死亡恐惧不能彻底消解只能消减,保持适当的死亡恐惧是必要的,也是有益的,它是人类一切精神性追求的内在动力。人们通常力求通过外向性的追求去摆脱或超越死亡恐惧,然而只有通过反躬自省,不假外求的方式,才能最终完成对生命的觉解与超越。     

What Matters in the Mirror of Time: Why Lucretius’ Symmetry Argument Fails

By appealing to the similarity between pre-vital and post-mortem nonexistence, Lucretius famously tried to show that our anxiety about death was irrational. His so-called Symmetry Argument has been attacked in various ways, but all of these strategies are themselves problematic. In this paper, I propose a new approach to undermining the argument: when Parfit’s distinction between identity and what matters is applied, not diachronically (as he uses it) but across possible worlds, the alleged symmetry can be broken. Although the pre-vital and posthumous time spans that we could have experienced are indeed analogous with respect to our identity, they are not analogous with respect to psychological continuity, which forms the basis of prudential concern. Lucretius even anticipated the Parfitian distinction. He did not, however, notice the significance that it has for his Symmetry Argument.     

The Fear of Death

Taking a somewhat indirect route that includes some autobiographical reflection, I address three questions. One is what it might mean to say, with Socrates, that philosophy is "studying for death". The second is why Christians should fear death at all, if the good of Heaven is really what they believe is beyond it. The third is the question what difference it makes to your philosophical view of death if you are a believer.     

Fear of Death in Hypochondriasis: Bodily Threat and Its Treatment Implications

This article aims to explore the perception of body in hypochondriasis and implications that it has for fear of death and for treatment of hypochondriasis. It is suggested that a sense of threat posed by the body in hypochondriasis is intimately related to the fear of body, expectations of bodily failure, fear of disease and pathological fear of death. Clinical aspects and potential antecedents of these phenomena are discussed in the article. It is emphasized that fear of the body and fear of death should be adequately addressed in the course of treatment, regardless of the nature of the primary treatment approach. Relevant treatment strategies are outlined, with treatment goals including an adoption of the non-threatening perception of one’s body, modification of attitudes and beliefs related to health, illness and death which heighten fear of death, and substantial alleviation or elimination of the pathological fear of death.     

The Origins of Fears of Compassion: Shame and Lack of Safeness Memories,Fears of Compassion and Psychopathology

Empirical and clinical research suggests that some individuals find self-generating compassion and receiving compassion from others difficult and aversive. However, it is unclear how these fears of compassion are linked to early experiences and to psychopathological symptoms. This study explores the relationship between shame traumatic memories, centrality of shame memories, early memories of warmth and safeness, fears of compassion, and depression, anxiety and paranoid symptoms. Participants were 302 individuals from the general community population, who completed self-report measures of fears of compassion, shame memories, early affiliative memories, and psychopathology. Shame traumatic and central memories were positively associated with fears of compassion for self, for others and from others, whereas early memories of warmth and safeness were negatively related to such fears. Path analyses revealed that fears of compassion for self and of receiving compassion from others mediated the effects of shame traumatic memory, centrality of shame memory and early memories of warmth and safeness on depressive, anxious and paranoid symptoms. These findings have implications for therapeutic interventions as these fears, as well as the negative shame-based emotional memories fuelling them, may need to be addressed in therapy to assist patients in self-generating and receiving compassion.     

生命回顾疗法介入晚期癌症患者死亡恐惧的实践探索

聚焦晚期癌症患者死亡恐惧,分析比较生命回顾疗法的实际应用。基于临床服务案例,医务社工发现晚期癌症患者的死亡恐惧主要受躯体症状、疾病归因、家庭支持和心性支持四方面影响。医务社工通过运用生命回顾疗法对晚期癌症患者进行干预,依托建立早期良好专业关系、正视死亡恐惧、回顾重要生命事件、强化/修复重要关系、增强自我认同五大策略,赋予患者生命新的价值和希望,实现生命意义的整合,有效缓解个体死亡恐惧,改善末期生命质量。

     

死亡的判定

死亡是生命的终结.死亡判定的标准在历史上经历了一个逐步深化的过程.1959年2位法国医学家首先提出了脑死亡的概念.但是什么是脑死亡,以及如何判定脑死亡是一个有争议的问题.1981年美国总统委员会提出了一个脑死亡的判定指标体系,并被一些国家立法接受.回顾了对死亡判定认识的历史过程.     

Old Fears Die Hard: Return of Public Speaking Fear in a Virtual Reality Procedure

Exposure-based therapy is an effective treatment for social anxiety, but some patients relapse. We used a novel virtual reality procedure to examine spontaneous recovery (i.e., a return of fear over time) and fear renewal (i.e., the return of fear after a context switch) in individuals with fear of public speaking. On Day 1, 32 participants received exposure training before a virtual audience. On Day 8, participants completed a spontaneous recovery phase, followed by a fear renewal test, in which they gave a presentation in front of a new (context switch) or the same audience (no context switch). After exposure, participants exhibited a lower heart rate, subjective distress, negative valence, and arousal. One week later, participants showed spontaneous recovery of heart rate, and the context switch group showed renewal of subjective distress, negative valence, and arousal. Future studies can use this procedure to test interventions aimed at improving long-term exposure effects in individuals with public speaking fear.     

大学生评价恐惧在自尊与社交焦虑间的中介效应分析

为探讨评价恐惧在自尊与社交焦虑间的作用,本研究采用正向评价恐惧量表、负向评价恐惧量表、自尊量表、社交互动焦虑量表,以大学生作为研究对象进行问卷调查,得到655份有效问卷。研究结果表明:(1)正向评价恐惧量表在本研究大学生样本中具有良好的信、效度。(2)正向评价恐惧、负向评价恐惧在自尊与社交焦虑间起着部分中介作用,中介效应值为47.17%,即自尊一方面直接影响社交焦虑,另一方面通过负向评价恐惧、正向评价恐惧影响社交焦虑。     

Masculinity and Emotionality: An Investigation of Men's Primary and Secondary Emotional Responding

In this study, we investigated the role of masculinity in men's affect intensity and men's fear of emotions. Men's masculine ideology and self-reported masculine gender role stress were assessed as cognitive and experiential factors of adherence to traditional masculine gender norms. Masculine ideology was negatively related to men's global affect intensity. However, on a 3-factor model of affect intensity, only negative reactivity was significantly related to masculine ideology. Both masculine ideology and masculine gender role stress were positively related to men's fear of emotions. Results are discussed in the context of theories of gender differences in emotion.     

Characteristics of Blood-Injection-Injury Fears in People Receiving Intravenous Chemotherapy

Blood-Injection-Injury (BII) phobia is associated with distress and avoidance in response to blood, injury, or receiving injections. BII phobia can therefore create problems for those receiving medical procedures such as chemotherapy. The prevalence rate of BII in the general population has been estimated to be less than 5% but as many as 19% of outpatients receiving chemotherapy surveyed by Carey and Harris (Behaviour Change 22:5–90, 2005) reported BII concerns. This study examined the extent and characteristics of BII concerns among outpatients receiving chemotherapy for the first time (n = 124). Almost 17% of the sample had scores on the Mutilation Questionnaire comparable to samples with clinical BII phobia. Those assigned to a high BII concern group based on Mutilation Questionnaire scores reported higher somatic and fainting responses to BII stimuli and elevated disgust sensitivity, compared to groups selected for low BII concerns. Females had significantly higher Mutilation Questionnaire scores than males. Thus, the BII concerns of outpatients receiving chemotherapy appear qualitatively similar to the concerns reported by clinical BII phobia samples and analogue student samples. We suggest that the standard inclusion of a brief, reliable screening measure of BII concerns for outpatients scheduled for chemotherapy, coupled with brief, effective interventions to reduce BII-related distress, may be warranted.     

A Greek-Language Inventory of Fears: Psychometric Properties and Factor Structure of Self-Reports of Fears on the Hellenic Fear Survey Schedule

The structure of fearfulness and the psychometric properties of a Greek-language version of the Fear Survey Schedule were studied in a sample of normal Greek adults. Overall summary scores were higher for women than for men, had satisfactory temporal stability and internal consistency, and were useful in discriminating levels of phobic anxiety independent of levels of depression as assessed by a concurrent self-report measure. However, the temporal stabilities of responses for many items were inadequate for the reliable identification of levels of fear of specific events and objects. A factor analysis yielded five components that were conceptually similar to those obtained abroad. Subscales based on component items were psychometrically reliable. In comparison with American subjects, Greek subjects rated similar items as most fearful, but reported higher levels of fears of these items, reflecting either higher levels of fears, greater disclosure, or cultural differences in the meaning of fear ratings.     

The Role of Postformal Cognitive Development in Death Acceptance

This research is the first to test the relation between postformal complex thought (PFT) and death acceptance. College students (N = 225) completed the PFT questionnaire (Cartwright et al., J Adult Dev, 2009), the Need for Cognition scale (Cacioppo et al., J Personality Assess 48:3, 1984), and Klug’s Death Acceptance Scale, comprised of death integration and confrontation scales (Klug and Sinha, Omega 18:229–235, 1987). A series of hierarchical regression analyses showed PFT made a significant contribution to death acceptance over the contributions of other cognitive and demographic variables, as predicted. Further, PFT made a significant contribution to death integration but not to death confrontation. These results are consistent with contemporary theories of adult cognitive development and PFT.     

"脑死亡=死亡"生物医学定律的逻辑论证

心脏具有顽固自律性、可多次复苏性、功能可人工替代性、可多次置换性四大特点,因而已失去作为死亡判定权威器官的地位.而大脑由于具有统领性、损坏后不可恢复性、功能不可替代性、全脑不可置换性四大特点,已替代心脏成为死亡判定的靶器官."脑死亡=死亡"在相当长时期内都将是一个严格的科学定义.     

Death and gratitude: Death reflection enhances gratitude

Although gratitude is important to the good life, little is known about factors that enhance gratitude. Some have suggested that traumatic events such as near-death experiences and life-threatening illnesses might enhance gratitude. If reflecting on death causes one to appreciate life as a limited resource, this might enhance gratitude. This study investigated this theory. Participants were randomly assigned to a death reflection condition, a traditional mortality salience condition, or to a control condition. Participants in the death reflection and the mortality salience conditions showed enhanced gratitude compared to individuals in the control condition, supporting the theory that becoming aware of one's mortal limitations enhances gratitude for the life that what one has.     

老年临终关怀中的尊严死与安详死

我国已成为老龄化社会,老年临终关怀日益显示出其重要性。随着全优生命质量系统工程概念的提出,尊严死与安详死也已成为衡量现代临终关怀质量的核心指标。从生命的尊严、生活的质量、家庭的慰藉、社会的支持等方面对国内外研究进行综述,提出在我国老年临终关怀中应体现优逝理念,注意维护老年人的人格尊严、减轻其痛苦、并通过合适的死亡教育方法帮助老年人及其家属接受死亡、规划死亡和迎接死亡,使我国老年人也能真正获得尊严而安详的死亡。     

The structure of negative emotions in adolescents

This study examined the structure of negative emotions in a sample of nonclinical adolescents, using an approach that exclusively relied on child self-report. A large sample of adolescents (N = 968) completed self-report questionnaires measuring symptoms of fear, anxiety, and depression. Confirmatory factor analysis provided support for the notion that fear, anxiety, and depression are distinct yet correlated components of negative emotions. This result is in agreement with recent empirical findings and current theoretical notions on the structure of negative emotions in children and should be taken as an encouragement for researchers to develop more specific measures for assessing fear, anxiety, and depression in children.     

The facial pattern of disgust, appetence, excited joy and relaxed joy: an improved facial EMG study

The purpose of the study was to investigate the facial muscle pattern of disgust in comparison to appetence and joy, using an improved facial EMG method. We analyzed the activity of nine facial muscles in forty healthy subjects. The subject group was randomly divided into two groups (oversaturated vs. hungry) of ten women and ten men each. Four different emotions (disgust, appetence, excited-joy and relaxed-joy) were induced by showing pictures from the IAPS. Pre-visible facial muscle activity was measured with a new facial EMG. A Visual Analog Scale (VAS) was established. Disgust is represented by a specific facial muscle pattern involving M.corrugator and M.orbicularis oculi, clearly distinguishing it from the facial patterns of appetence and joy. The intensity of disgust is stronger in a state of hunger than under oversaturation and is altogether stronger in females than in males. Our findings indicate the possibility to explore the entire emotion system successfully through a state-of-the-art psychophysiological method like our EMG device.     

积极情绪对条件性恐惧泛化的抑制作用

恐惧的过度泛化是焦虑障碍的核心症状之一,表现为患者对与原危险刺激极不相似的安全刺激也产生恐惧反应。本研究采用经典条件恐惧范式,以US主观预期、回溯性恐惧评定、回溯性效价评定和皮电反应作为恐惧反应的指标,通过"最好自我"训练来诱发被试的积极情绪,考察了恐惧习得后的积极情绪对于恐惧泛化的影响。本研究发现,积极情绪能有效地抑制条件性恐惧的泛化,增强被试对安全信号的学习,并对消退后的恐惧重建现象起到预防作用。研究同时显示,恐惧泛化在主观评定指标和生理指标间出现了分离,这表明积极情绪对恐惧泛化的抑制作用是一个综合的过程,可能涉及到不同的作用机制。本研究结果提示可以通过诱发积极情绪,抑制条件性恐惧的泛化,对临床干预有一定的启发意义。