Overcome Death Anxiety: The Development of an Online Cognitive Behaviour Therapy Programme for Fears of Death
Abstract
Emerging research suggests that death anxiety is a transdiagnostic construct, which may underpin a number of mental illnesses. Although cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) has been found to be the most effective treatment for death anxiety, no self-guided treatments for this construct exist at present. Furthermore, there is a growing need for accessible, scalable and cost-effective psychological treatments. To address these gaps, we created Overcome Death Anxiety(ODA), an online CBT-based programme which specifically targets fears of death. ODA was designed to be a fully automated, standalone, yet individualised online treatment. The present study outlines the development and structure of this programme using responses from four users to illustrate feasibility. Research is needed to examine the efficacy and usability of ODA with a larger clinical sample.
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Although ODA does not include a specific module on Stoicism, central ideas taken directly from Stoic philosophy are scattered throughout the program.
“Although the program does not include a specific module on Stoicism, central ideas taken directly from the philosophy are scattered throughout the program.”
From Stoicism and death acceptance: integrating Stoic philosophy in cognitive behaviour therapy for death anxiety (2022) · cites this paper as [55]
Only one study has explicitly included Stoic philosophy in an intervention targeting death anxiety.
“To the best of our knowledge, only one study has explicitly included Stoic philosophy in an intervention targeting death anxiety.”
From Stoicism and death acceptance: integrating Stoic philosophy in cognitive behaviour therapy for death anxiety (2022) · cites this paper as [55]
Menzies et al. [55] developed an online CBT-based program, Overcome Death Anxiety (ODA), to specifically address fears of death.
“Menzies etal. [55] developed an online CBT-based program, Overcome Death Anxiety (ODA) , to specifically address fears of death.”
From Stoicism and death acceptance: integrating Stoic philosophy in cognitive behaviour therapy for death anxiety (2022) · cites this paper as [55]
ODA integrates treatment approaches including cognitive therapy and exposure therapy for death anxiety.
“ODA integrates treatment approaches including cognitive therapy and exposure therapy for death anxiety.”
From Stoicism and death acceptance: integrating Stoic philosophy in cognitive behaviour therapy for death anxiety (2022) · cites this paper as [55]
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Overcoming death anxiety: a phase I trial of an online CBT program in a clinical sample
Menzies, R. E., Julien, A., Sharpe, L., Menzies, R. G., Helgadóttir, F. D., & Dar-Nimrod, I. (2023) · Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy · doi:10.1017/s135246582300005x · Cited by 16 · see citing works
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Self-citation
- Authors
- Menzies, R. E., Sharpe, L., Helgadóttir, F. D., & Dar-Nimrod, I.
- Affiliations
- The University of Sydney (AU)
- Corresponding author
- Menzies, Rachel E.
- Venue
- Behaviour Change
- Publisher
- Cambridge University Press (CUP)
- Published
- 2021-09-01
- Volume
- 38
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 235-249
- ISSN
- 0813-4839 (ISSN-L)
- 2049-7768
- OpenAlex
- W3198371315
- Cited by
- 14
- References
- 55
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2025: 2 · 2024: 3 · 2023: 3 · 2022: 4
- FWCI
- 2.24
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Behaviour Change (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Applied Psychology › Digital Mental Health Interventions
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Anxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive Processes
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Death Anxiety and Social Exclusion
- Keywords
- fear of death, cognitive behavioral therapy, online therapy, self-guided treatment, transdiagnostic constructs, program development, feasibility, personalized treatment
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