#deathanxiety — Public Fediverse posts
Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #deathanxiety, aggregated by home.social.
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DATE: August 4, 2026 at 07:00AM
SOURCE: PSYPOST.ORG** Research quality varies widely from fantastic to small exploratory studies. Please check research methods when conclusions are very important to you. **
-------------------------------------------------TITLE: Death anxiety is linked to worse insomnia through more severe nightmares
URL: https://www.psypost.org/death-anxiety-is-linked-to-worse-insomnia-through-more-severe-nightmares/
A study in Australia found that individuals with more pronounced death anxiety (i.e., fear of death) tend to report stronger insomnia symptoms. This association did not depend on the attachment style of an individual. The paper was published in Death Studies.
Fear of death, often called death anxiety, is the emotional distress people experience when thinking about their own death, the death of loved ones, or the process of dying. It can involve fear of pain, loss of control, separation from others, nonexistence, or uncertainty about what happens after death.
Some degree of death anxiety is common and may motivate people to protect themselves, maintain relationships, and seek meaning in life. However, when it becomes intense or persistent, it can contribute to avoidance, excessive health concerns, panic, sleep difficulties, or reduced enjoyment of everyday life. The intensity of death anxiety differs across individuals and may be influenced by age, personality, health, religious beliefs, cultural background, and previous experiences with loss.
People often manage this fear through close relationships, personal achievements, spiritual beliefs, cultural traditions, or the feeling that their lives have purpose and lasting significance. Major illness, bereavement, disasters, and reminders of human vulnerability can bring thoughts of death closer to awareness and temporarily increase anxiety.
Study author Rachel E. Menzies and her colleagues examined the associations between death anxiety and insomnia. Furthermore, they wanted to explore whether this link depends on an individual’s attachment style and whether it is mediated by the severity of nightmares. They conducted an online survey.
Study participants were 515 adults recruited from the general public via media outlets, social media, and the study website. 70% of them were women. 89% were from Australia, and 85% identified as Caucasian. 40% of them had postgraduate degrees. Participants’ average age was 44 years.
The online survey participants completed contained assessments of death anxiety (the Death Anxiety Beliefs and Behaviors Scale), attachment style (the Adult Attachment Scale), anxiety (the Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7), insomnia (the Insomnia Severity Index), and the severity of nightmares (the Disturbing Dream and Nightmare Severity Index).
As expected, the results indicated that individuals with higher death anxiety tended to report slightly more severe insomnia and nightmares. They also tended to report slightly more severe anxiety symptoms.
Study authors tested a statistical model proposing that higher levels of death anxiety were associated with more severe nightmares. These more severe nightmares, in turn, increased insomnia. Results supported this model, indicating that nightmare severity partially explains the link between death anxiety and insomnia.
Contrary to the study authors’ expectations, the link between death anxiety and insomnia was not moderated by attachment style.
“These findings suggest that death anxiety may play a greater role in insomnia than previously considered and may be an important intervention target,” study authors concluded.
The study sheds light on the links between death anxiety and insomnia. However, it should be noted that the cross-sectional study design does not allow any causal inferences to be derived from the findings. Additionally, all data came from self-reports, leaving room for reporting bias to have affected the results.
The paper, “Is a fear of death keeping you awake at night? Death anxiety predicts insomnia through nightmare severity,” was authored by Rachel E. Menzies, Jessie Brown, Mitchell Turner, David Cunnington, Malisa Burge, Ian C. Dunican, and Hailey Meaklim.
URL: https://www.psypost.org/death-anxiety-is-linked-to-worse-insomnia-through-more-severe-nightmares/
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Private, vetted email list for mental health professionals: https://www.clinicians-exchange.org
Unofficial Psychology Today Xitter to toot feed at Psych Today Unofficial Bot @PTUnofficialBot
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#psychology #counseling #socialwork #psychotherapy @psychotherapist @psychotherapists @psychology @socialpsych @socialwork @psychiatry #mentalhealth #psychiatry #healthcare #depression #psychotherapist #DeathAnxiety #Insomnia #Nightmares #SleepQuality #MentalHealthAwareness #SleepResearch #DeathStudies #AnxietySymptoms #NightmareSeverity #Wellbeing Research
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DATE: August 4, 2026 at 07:00AM
SOURCE: PSYPOST.ORG** Research quality varies widely from fantastic to small exploratory studies. Please check research methods when conclusions are very important to you. **
-------------------------------------------------TITLE: Death anxiety is linked to worse insomnia through more severe nightmares
URL: https://www.psypost.org/death-anxiety-is-linked-to-worse-insomnia-through-more-severe-nightmares/
A study in Australia found that individuals with more pronounced death anxiety (i.e., fear of death) tend to report stronger insomnia symptoms. This association did not depend on the attachment style of an individual. The paper was published in Death Studies.
Fear of death, often called death anxiety, is the emotional distress people experience when thinking about their own death, the death of loved ones, or the process of dying. It can involve fear of pain, loss of control, separation from others, nonexistence, or uncertainty about what happens after death.
Some degree of death anxiety is common and may motivate people to protect themselves, maintain relationships, and seek meaning in life. However, when it becomes intense or persistent, it can contribute to avoidance, excessive health concerns, panic, sleep difficulties, or reduced enjoyment of everyday life. The intensity of death anxiety differs across individuals and may be influenced by age, personality, health, religious beliefs, cultural background, and previous experiences with loss.
People often manage this fear through close relationships, personal achievements, spiritual beliefs, cultural traditions, or the feeling that their lives have purpose and lasting significance. Major illness, bereavement, disasters, and reminders of human vulnerability can bring thoughts of death closer to awareness and temporarily increase anxiety.
Study author Rachel E. Menzies and her colleagues examined the associations between death anxiety and insomnia. Furthermore, they wanted to explore whether this link depends on an individual’s attachment style and whether it is mediated by the severity of nightmares. They conducted an online survey.
Study participants were 515 adults recruited from the general public via media outlets, social media, and the study website. 70% of them were women. 89% were from Australia, and 85% identified as Caucasian. 40% of them had postgraduate degrees. Participants’ average age was 44 years.
The online survey participants completed contained assessments of death anxiety (the Death Anxiety Beliefs and Behaviors Scale), attachment style (the Adult Attachment Scale), anxiety (the Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7), insomnia (the Insomnia Severity Index), and the severity of nightmares (the Disturbing Dream and Nightmare Severity Index).
As expected, the results indicated that individuals with higher death anxiety tended to report slightly more severe insomnia and nightmares. They also tended to report slightly more severe anxiety symptoms.
Study authors tested a statistical model proposing that higher levels of death anxiety were associated with more severe nightmares. These more severe nightmares, in turn, increased insomnia. Results supported this model, indicating that nightmare severity partially explains the link between death anxiety and insomnia.
Contrary to the study authors’ expectations, the link between death anxiety and insomnia was not moderated by attachment style.
“These findings suggest that death anxiety may play a greater role in insomnia than previously considered and may be an important intervention target,” study authors concluded.
The study sheds light on the links between death anxiety and insomnia. However, it should be noted that the cross-sectional study design does not allow any causal inferences to be derived from the findings. Additionally, all data came from self-reports, leaving room for reporting bias to have affected the results.
The paper, “Is a fear of death keeping you awake at night? Death anxiety predicts insomnia through nightmare severity,” was authored by Rachel E. Menzies, Jessie Brown, Mitchell Turner, David Cunnington, Malisa Burge, Ian C. Dunican, and Hailey Meaklim.
URL: https://www.psypost.org/death-anxiety-is-linked-to-worse-insomnia-through-more-severe-nightmares/
-------------------------------------------------
Private, vetted email list for mental health professionals: https://www.clinicians-exchange.org
Unofficial Psychology Today Xitter to toot feed at Psych Today Unofficial Bot @PTUnofficialBot
-------------------------------------------------
#psychology #counseling #socialwork #psychotherapy @psychotherapist @psychotherapists @psychology @socialpsych @socialwork @psychiatry #mentalhealth #psychiatry #healthcare #depression #psychotherapist #DeathAnxiety #Insomnia #Nightmares #SleepQuality #MentalHealthAwareness #SleepResearch #DeathStudies #AnxietySymptoms #NightmareSeverity #Wellbeing Research
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Right-wing authoritarians are gaining ground across the world, and one body of research has an unusual explanation for why that's the case: our collective death anxiety. Green burials, however, might be able to help solve the problem.
My latest for Sower ⬇️
https://www.sower.world/green-burial-death-anxiety/
#death #authoritarianism #facism #SolarPunk #trump #DonaldTrump #billionaires #conservation #BioDiversity #DeathCafe #culture #indigenous #inequality #life #deathanxiety #loss #newsletter #journalism #feature #longform
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Right-wing authoritarians are gaining ground across the world, and one body of research has an unusual explanation for why that's the case: our collective death anxiety. Green burials, however, might be able to help solve the problem.
My latest for Sower ⬇️
https://www.sower.world/green-burial-death-anxiety/
#death #authoritarianism #facism #SolarPunk #trump #DonaldTrump #billionaires #conservation #BioDiversity #DeathCafe #culture #indigenous #inequality #life #deathanxiety #loss #newsletter #journalism #feature #longform
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Psychedelic use linked to lower fear of death through enhanced transcendence beliefs https://www.psypost.org/psychedelic-use-linked-to-lower-fear-of-death-through-enhanced-transcendence-beliefs/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=mastodon #Psychedelics #Transcendence #DeathAnxiety #MentalHealth #Mindfulness
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I reviewed the books The Denial of Death, and Escape From Evil, both by Ernest Becker. I think, taken together, Denial of Death & Escape From Evil are the most important books I have read in the last 10 years.
https://oblivionwithbells.com/2024/09/30/book-review-the-denial-of-death-escape-from-evil/
#Bookreview #Psychology #ErnestBecker #Death #fearofdeath #anthropology #mortality #TMT #terrormanagementtheory #mortalitysaliency #mortalityawareness #mementomori #Literature #nonfiction #book #books #deathanxiety #existentialism
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I reviewed the books The Denial of Death, and Escape From Evil, both by Ernest Becker. I think, taken together, Denial of Death & Escape From Evil are the most important books I have read in the last 10 years.
https://oblivionwithbells.com/2024/09/30/book-review-the-denial-of-death-escape-from-evil/
#Bookreview #Psychology #ErnestBecker #Death #fearofdeath #anthropology #mortality #TMT #terrormanagementtheory #mortalitysaliency #mortalityawareness #mementomori #Literature #nonfiction #book #books #deathanxiety #existentialism
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In the 'Expertise of Death' episode of the The Black Goat podcast (https://www.theblackgoatpodcast.com/posts/the-expertise-of-death/) the hosts declare Terror Management Theory "dead in the water" because the results of a foundational TMT study could not be reproduced (Many Labs 4 https://osf.io/preprints/psyarxiv/vef2c). Would this be considered the general consensus around TMT at this time?
#Psychology #science #academia #deathanxiety #terrormanagementtheory #existentialism #ErnestBecker #mortalitysaliency #mementomori #anthropology
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In the 'Expertise of Death' episode of the The Black Goat podcast (https://www.theblackgoatpodcast.com/posts/the-expertise-of-death/) the hosts declare Terror Management Theory "dead in the water" because the results of a foundational TMT study could not be reproduced (Many Labs 4 https://osf.io/preprints/psyarxiv/vef2c). Would this be considered the general consensus around TMT at this time?
#Psychology #science #academia #deathanxiety #terrormanagementtheory #existentialism #ErnestBecker #mortalitysaliency #mementomori #anthropology
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https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38743292/ The entactogen 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA; ecstasy) as a treatment aid in psychotherapy and its safety concerns (Baldo, et al, 2024) #mdma #fda #entactogens #psychedelic #psychedelics #psychedelicresearch #psychedelicassistedpsychotherapy #mdmaassistedtherapy Note: FDA has approved trials of MDMA for: #ptsd #socialanxiety (especially related to #autism) #alcoholusedisorder #eatingdisorders #asociality related to #schizophrenia #deathanxiety
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https://youtu.be/DiHeBbOs-AU #mdma #psychedelics #Psilocybin #cannabis #lsd #ketamine #mdmaassistedtherapy #fda #ketamineassistedpsychotherapy #psychedelicassistedpsychotherapy #grief #deathanxiety #existentialdread #psychedelic #psychedelics #psychedelictherapy #psychedelicresearch The fact that people have measurable changes in thoughts, feelings, emotions, behaviors and MEANING after psychedelic therapy when supported by another human is measurable, even if obvious. #dosed #palliativecare #hospice
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https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38773523/ Effect of MDMA-assisted therapy on mood and anxiety symptoms in advanced-stage cancer (EMMAC): study protocol for a double-blind, randomised controlled trial
(Bhagavan et al. Trials. 2024) Note: Scientific clinical trials are not the same as mental health treatment. #mdma #mdmaassistedtherapy #newzealand #deathanxiety #depression #oncology #anxiety #depression #psychedelic #psychedelicresearch #oncology #psychedelicassistedpsychotherapy -
https://www.psypost.org/psychedelics-may-reduce-death-anxiety-via-panpsychism-study-suggests/ New research on #psychedelics and #death anxiety (2024)— and #research from 2007 on #ketamine and #deathanxiety https://digitalcommons.ciis.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1191&context=ijts-transpersonalstudies Ketamine-Enhanced Psychotherapy: Preliminary Clinical
Observations on its Effects in Treating Death Anxiety (Kolp, et al, 2007) #ketamineassistedpsychotherapy #psychedelicassistedpsychotherapy -
https://psychedelictherapy.institute/psychedelic-society/jdxwfeh4ehwojzkgwkoqll98ocrtz1 Free Event: May 28th, 2024— Panel Discussion with EOLPC on Psilocybin assisted therapy for end of life anxiety #psychedelicsociety #psychedelics #psilocybin #hospice #endoflifepsychedeliccare #deathanxiety #existentialdread #oncology #cancer #depression #anxiety
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Graphic from whenyoudie.org.
I am still afraid of dying, but I want to be open to the idea, as this quote suggests, that it is "just a change".
#Death #dying #Living #FearOfDeath #DeathAnxiety #mementomori
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Here are the slides for a recent presentation I gave of our study on #existential #psychology https://osf.io/kwjsy
In the study we coded and interpreted 803 short text responses about either #death or toothache. We found little to indicate #DeathAnxiety or #DefenseMechanisms. Article and dataset are #OpenAccess.
Article in @collabraoa with Sina Storelv as first author is available here: https://online.ucpress.edu/collabra/article/9/1/87507/197342/Nothing-Is-Certain-Except-Taxes-and-the-Other
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Here are the slides for a recent presentation I gave of our study on #existential #psychology https://osf.io/kwjsy
In the study we coded and interpreted 803 short text responses about either #death or toothache. We found little to indicate #DeathAnxiety or #DefenseMechanisms. Article and dataset are #OpenAccess.
Article in @collabraoa with Sina Storelv as first author is available here: https://online.ucpress.edu/collabra/article/9/1/87507/197342/Nothing-Is-Certain-Except-Taxes-and-the-Other
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#Existential philosophy and psychology assume that strong negative thoughts about #death influences many aspects of our lives, often #unconsciously.
In an article just published in #Collabra: Psychology (n=803), we found that "death" was seen as less negative and more positive than "toothache". We found little to indicate #DeathAnxiety or #DefenseMechanisms. Article and dataset are #OpenAccess. This is Sina Storelv's first first authored paper!
https://online.ucpress.edu/collabra/article/9/1/87507/197342/Nothing-Is-Certain-Except-Taxes-and-the-Other
@collabraoa -
#Existential philosophy and psychology assume that strong negative thoughts about #death influences many aspects of our lives, often #unconsciously.
In an article just published in #Collabra: Psychology (n=803), we found that "death" was seen as less negative and more positive than "toothache". We found little to indicate #DeathAnxiety or #DefenseMechanisms. Article and dataset are #OpenAccess. This is Sina Storelv's first first authored paper!
https://online.ucpress.edu/collabra/article/9/1/87507/197342/Nothing-Is-Certain-Except-Taxes-and-the-Other
@collabraoa -
Probably the best introduction to the practical side of combating death anxiety I know of. Doesn't mean it's easy though! I find the idea of "remembering death" really challenging.
https://psyche.co/guides/how-to-deal-with-death-anxiety-with-the-help-of-cbt
#Death #Mortality #MortalityAwareness #DeathAnxiety #FearOfDeath
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Huh. What happened in 2020? I want to speculate that the pandemic made people feel grateful to be alive & to have the health that they had.
Source: https://www.semafor.com/newsletter/09/05/2023/semafor-flagship
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Every fear is fear of death.
— Wilhem Stekel -
Every fear is fear of death.
— Wilhem Stekel -
My top recommendations for books on understanding the fear of death: https://oblivionwithbells.com/best-books-on-understanding-the-fear-of-death/
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My top recommendations for books on understanding the fear of death: https://oblivionwithbells.com/best-books-on-understanding-the-fear-of-death/