Fear of Death in the Mentally Ill

Abstract

Fear of death is considered a major source of apprehension for many emotionally disturbed individuals. Hypotheses that mentally ill persons would evidence greater fear of death than a control group of normal Ss, and the more intense the degree of emotional disturbance the greater would be the presence of fear of death, were investigated. Fear of death was assessed by means of a multilevel criterion. Results indicated that mentally ill patients did not have any significantly greater fear of death than emotionally healthy Ss. Neither did degree of emotional illness appear to be related significantly to apprehension concerning death. Both groups, however, manifested an over-all similarity in perception of death, i.e., repudiation of fear of death at a conscious level, linked to ambivalence at an imagery level, and to dread at below-the-level-of-awareness.