Gus Liu

10/22/13
PWR 2: Illness Narratives
Annotated Bibliography

How do our views of death affect how we live? In mentally ill patients, fear of death
often is the root of anxiety and unrest. In terminally ill patients, the threat of death can be
more taxing than the illness itself. It not only affects those who are ill; caregivers, friends,
and family are all forced to confront death through them. Many shrug off death anxiety as
a common problem, either avoiding the topic or ignoring its existence. Studies have
shown that struggling with fear of death can affect caregivers and families well-being,
as well as interfere with their ability to cope. From these findings, it is clear that death
anxiety is a common overlooked and underestimated issue with a real and relevant
impact. My research is focused on finding the psychological and religious links to fear of
death, as well as how we can help those afflicted overcome it.

Anonymous OCD Patient. Personal Interview. 4 Oct 2013.

I conducted an interview with a young man who had obsessive-compulsive disorder,
documenting his story of mental illness and overcoming symptoms. I learned that the root
of his anxiety was a fear of death. Even though his parents had abused him throughout his
childhood, preventing him from developing proper social skills, emotional attachment,
and mental stability, he never really feared his parents or the abuse. Instead, he feared a
higher power, such as God, judging him after his death. After he came to faith in
Christianity, his faith eased much of his fear, due to his belief that Christ could sacrifice
his life on the cross so that mankind could have life in him. In his case, he used religion
as a means of coping with fear of death in such a way that eased his symptoms.

This interview evoked curiosity from me, because before he really developed spiritual
faith, the fear of a higher power had caused his fear. However, after he became a
Christian, his religion alleviated his anxiety. His story helped provide me insight into the
relation between religion and fear of death, providing an avenue of further research to
find how religion influences our views of death and whether the timing of attaining
religious faith matters.

Bachner, Yaacov G., Norm ORouke, and Sara Carmel. Fear Of Death, Mortality
Communication, And Psychological Distress Among Secular And Religiously
Observant Family Caregivers Of Terminal Cancer Patients. Death Studies 35.2
(2011): 163-187. Academic Search Premier. Web. 12 Oct. 2013.

Yaacov Bachner, a Ph.D working with the Department of Sociology of Health in Israel,
Norm ORourke, Department of Gerontology, and Sara Carmel, Department of Sociology
of Health in Israel, published this article reporting results of their study comparing
responses and relations between mortality communication, psychological distress, and
fear of death among religiously observant and secular families of terminally ill cancer
patients. They found that levels of fear of death were lower and levels of mortality
communication were higher among secular families. Among secular caregivers, fear of
death predicted emotional exhaustion. On the other hand, for religious caregivers, an
indirect association between fear of death and emotional exhaustion was found which
was moderated by depressive symptoms.

This source elaborated and uncovered significant differences of relations between fear of
death, emotional exhaustion, and mortality communication among two differing
viewpoints, secular and religious. It illuminates the role religion plays in fear of death
when caregivers already had preexisting viewpoints before their illness, which is the
opposite case of my interviewee whose religious views came into play after the onset of
his disorder.

Patricia Furer; John R. Walker; Murray B. Stein. Treating Health Anxiety and Fear of
Death: A Practitioner's Guide. Springer New York, 2007. 23 October 2013
<http://www.myilibrary.com?ID=80502>.

Patricia Furer, Ph.D at the University of Manitoba, John R. Walker, Ph.D also at the
University of Manitoba, and Murray B. Stein, M.D. and MPH at UC San Diego wrote
this book discussing the rising issue of health anxiety and fear of death. It provides
history, background, methods of treatment, and benefits treatment provides. In one
particular passage, they describe a doctors experience with terminally ill cancer patients
confronting death. The doctor noticed specific areas of personal growth after overcoming
their fear and accepting death such as developing the ability to discern what is truly
important in their lives, attaining a sense of liberation, deeper communication with loved
ones, and less anxiety about their condition.

This source provides me a doctors perspective on terminally ill patients facing death,
scientific evidence on how treatment can help patients, and several modes of treatment
such as cognitive-behavioral treatment. Overall, it gives scientific and psychological
context on fear of death.

Langner, Thomas S. Choices for Living : Coping with Fear of Dying. New York: Kluwer
Academic/Plenum Publishers, 2002.

Thomas Langner, formerly a Ph.D at the School of Public Health and Department of
Psychiatry at Columbia University, writes this book exploring various attitudes towards
death, causes of fear of death, and the numerous ways to cope. For example, he argues
that creativity in art or music enables immortality through your creations. Loving and
caring for others lifts us of our fears. Group membership can give meaning to life and
serve as a strong bulwark against fear of death. He also mentions that religion and a
belief in the afterlife can reduce fear and create the illusion of immortality. On the other
hand, he presents more destructive methods, such as gambling, counterphobic behavior,
and dissociation (276). Overall, his points provided large amounts of valuable
information on practical ways to overcome fear of death. I particularly liked that this
book tied into my interview as he notes that obsessive-compulsive behavior is also a
method of coping, because routine behavior can dull the sense of fear.

Kastenbaum, Robert. The Psychology of Death. 3rd. ed. New York: Springer, 2000.

Robert Kastenbaum, a professor at Arizona State University, published this book about
psychological aspects of death. One whole chapter was dedicated to death anxiety, which
I used for my research. He first begins it with quotes from people concerning their own
death anxiety. He describes limitations and flaws of death anxiety research, but then
proceeds to discuss much research and experiments and the conclusions we can draw
from them. He continues with unique information about gender differences in death
anxiety, age correlations, psychological distress correlations, demographics, religious
views, and personality and lifestyle correlations. All of these aspects provided me
significant information explaining various ties to death anxiety, giving me insight into the
different factors contributing to death anxiety.

From these illuminating sources, Ive learned how religion, mortality communication,
and treatment can help with death anxiety. Specifically, the timing of religious faith can
affect whether it lessens death anxiety or not, as well as the attitude in which people
interpret their religion. There are many ways to cope with death anxiety, ranging from
positive to negative, many that are simple to implement. Moreover, death anxiety
research, however limited and flawed, reveals that it is a prevalent and impactful issue,
especially among seriously ill patients and caregivers. These findings will help me voice
the underestimated and shrugged off issue that death anxiety has become.