What is meant by this statement: “Death anxiety is a multidimensional concept”?
The idea that death anxiety can be discussed as the multidimensional concept means that it is impossible to explain the notion of death anxiety from only one perspective because researchers determine four types of concerns associated with the concept which form death anxiety, and these researchers also determine eight types of fears which are typical for people while discussing the concept of death.
As a result, the main concerns which cause people’s suffering are the death of self, the deaths of significant others or loved people, the aspects associated with the process of dying, and the specific state of being dead (Leming & Dickinson, 2011, p. 65).
While concentrating on these dimensions of the death anxiety, it is possible to determine such concrete fears as the fear of dependency, the fear of the pain experienced in the dying process, the fear associated with the indignity in the dying process, the fear connected with separation and rejection as the aspects of the dying process, the fear to leave close and loved people, the fears associated with the aspects of the afterlife, the finality of death, and the fears connected with the fate of the person’s body (Leming & Dickinson, 2011, p. 65).
This is the fact that the concept of death anxiety is multidimensional because different people concentrate on different fears which form four main concerns. In spite of the fact that people’s fears are grouped and classified, they can also be different in relation to the intensity of the expressed fear.
Furthermore, death anxiety is also influenced by the variety of factors such as the persons’ perceptions of their possible deaths, persons’ experiences associated with the others’ deaths, and people’s feelings of helplessness and depression (Leming & Dickinson, 2011, p. 66).
Depending on the factor which can influence the person’s vision of death, death anxiety can also be associated with the development of phobias (Princy & Kang, 2013, p. 637).
The discussion of death anxiety as the multidimensional concept can also be supported with references to the statistics received with the help of Michael Leming’s scale. Thus, the fears affecting the notion of death anxiety can differ in their popularity among people.
According to the survey on the problem, 65% of persons are inclined to focus on fears of dependency and pain in the process of dying as the causes for the anxiety; and 15% of persons demonstrate the significant anxiety related to afterlife concerns and fears about the body’s fate (Leming & Dickinson, 2011, p. 68).
Although there are many fears associated with death, the process of dying and sufferings make people experience the most significant levels of death anxiety.
The multidimensional character of the concept of death anxiety is also observed with references to the fact that the levels of anxiety are various in relation to genders and different age groups. Thus, the level of death anxiety decreases, if persons become older.
Moreover, the level of death anxiety is higher in relation to women while comparing their reactions with men’s ones (Leming & Dickinson, 2011, p. 68). Women are inclined to react to deaths more emotionally when men demonstrate rather optimistic attitudes to the notion of death, as a result, women suffer from the high levels of death anxiety more often (Princy & Kang, 2013, p. 641).
From this point, the concept of death anxiety cannot be examined only from one point or position because of its multidimensional character.
References
Leming, M., & Dickinson, G. (2011). Understanding dying, death, and bereavement. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning.
Princy, P., & Kang, T. K. (2013). Death anxiety (Thantaphobia) among elderly: A gender study. Indian Journal of Gerontology, 27(4), 637-643.