Cited by 48Death Anxiety and Social ExclusionAnxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive ProcessesDeath, Funerary Practices, and Mourning

The DOI matches its Crossref record; 29 of the 29 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.

Death anxiety and mental health: Requiem for a dreamer

Menzies, Rachel E., Menzies, Ross G.·2023·Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry

Abstract

Recently, there has been an increased interest in the role of death anxiety in a broad range of mental health disorders. It has been argued that the fear of death may be a transdiagnostic variable contributing to the development and maintenance of many chronic mental health problems. Further, it has been suggested that death anxiety may be responsible for relapse and the emergence of new disorders in patients that have received successful treatment for earlier conditions in their lives. Given this, the purpose of the present selective review is to: (1) explore contemporary theoretical accounts of the role of death anxiety in a broad range of human behaviours; (2) examine evidence for death anxiety as a key variable in mental health disorders; (3) examine evidence on the treatment of death anxiety in both non-clinical and clinical populations; (4) describe the limitations of the current literature, and; (5) provide a detailed description of the critical future directions for this field.

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Crossref · 10.1016/j.jbtep.2022.101807

Cites

29 of 29 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

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  • Death anxiety is related to social anxiety disorder and eating disorders.

    “Death anxiety is related to social anxiety disorder and eating disorders [11].”
  • Dealing with only one disorder does not address the underlying death-related fears, which ultimately results in new mental health issues because the core problem remains untouched.

    “Hence, dealing with only one disorder does not address the underlying death-related fears, which ultimately results in the new mental health issues because the core problem remains untouched [11].”
  • The fear of death is related to illness anxiety, somatoform disorders, panic disorder, common specific phobias, obsessive compulsive disorder, agoraphobia, post-traumatic stress disorder, and depressive disorders.

    “The fear of death is related to illness anxiety, somatoform disorders, panic disorder, common specific phobias, obsessive compulsive disorder, agoraphobia, post-traumatic stress disorder, depressive disorders.”
  • Neutral acceptance appears to produce the lowest levels of death anxiety.

    “neutral acceptance appears to produce the lowest levels of death anxiety”
  • Cognitive behavioral therapists encourage clients to explore complex reasons behind their fear to help them better understand it and discover their maladaptive unrealistic beliefs about dying and death.

    “Cognitive behavioral therapists encourage clients to explore some of the complex reasons behind their fear to help them better understand it and discover their maladaptive unrealistic beliefs about dying and death [11].”

Citations

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Metadata

Authors
Menzies, R. E., & Menzies, R. G.
Affiliations
University of Technology Sydney (AU)
Corresponding author
  • Menzies, Rachel E.
  • Menzies, Ross G.
Venue
Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2023-03
Volume
78
Pages
101807
ISSN
0005-7916 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W4309734344
Cited by
48
References
29
Citations by year
2026: 12 · 2025: 21 · 2024: 11 · 2023: 4
FWCI
8.50
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Locations
  • Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Death Anxiety and Social Exclusion
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Anxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive Processes
  • Social Sciences › Anthropology › Death, Funerary Practices, and Mourning
Keywords
fear of death, mental illness, relapse, clinical populations
MeSH terms
Anxiety, Anxiety Disorders, Fear, Humans, Mental Health, Phobic Disorders

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