Death anxiety in the time of COVID-19: Theoretical explanations and clinical implications

Menzies, RE; Menzies, RG

Death anxiety in the time of COVID-19: Theoretical explanations and clinical implications

Menzies, RE Menzies, RG

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Publisher:: Cambridge University Press (CUP)
Publication Type:: Journal Article
Citation:: Cognitive Behaviour Therapist, 2020, 13, pp. e19
Issue Date:: 2020-01-01

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Field	Value	Language
dc.contributor.author	Menzies, RE
dc.contributor.author	Menzies, RG
dc.date.accessioned	2021-01-27T21:53:33Z
dc.date.available	2021-01-27T21:53:33Z
dc.date.issued	2020-01-01
dc.identifier.citation	Cognitive Behaviour Therapist, 2020, 13, pp. e19
dc.identifier.issn	1754-470X
dc.identifier.issn	1754-470X
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10453/145607
dc.description.abstract	© 2020 Cambridge University Press. All rights reserved. The recent COVID-19 pandemic has triggered a surge in anxiety across the globe. Much of the public's behavioural and emotional response to the virus can be understood through the framework of terror management theory, which proposes that fear of death drives much of human behaviour. In the context of the current pandemic, death anxiety, a recently proposed transdiagnostic construct, appears especially relevant. Fear of death has recently been shown to predict not only anxiety related to COVID-19, but also to play a causal role in various mental health conditions. Given this, it is argued that treatment programmes in mental health may need to broaden their focus to directly target the dread of death. Notably, cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) has been shown to produce significant reductions in death anxiety. As such, it is possible that complementing current treatments with specific CBT techniques addressing fears of death may ensure enhanced long-Term symptom reduction. Further research is essential in order to examine whether treating death anxiety will indeed improve long-Term outcomes, and prevent the emergence of future disorders in vulnerable populations. Key learning aims (1) To understand terror management theory and its theoretical explanation of death anxiety in the context of COVID-19.(2) To understand the transdiagnostic role of death anxiety in mental health disorders.(3) To understand current treatment approaches for directly targeting death anxiety, and the importance of doing so to improve long-Term treatment outcomes.
dc.language	en
dc.publisher	Cambridge University Press (CUP)
dc.relation.ispartof	Cognitive Behaviour Therapist
dc.relation.isbasedon	10.1017/S1754470X20000215
dc.rights	© British Association for Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapies 2020. This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of theCreative Commons Attribution licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution, andreproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
dc.rights	info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
dc.subject	1701 Psychology, 1702 Cognitive Sciences
dc.title	Death anxiety in the time of COVID-19: Theoretical explanations and clinical implications
dc.type	Journal Article
utslib.citation.volume	13
utslib.for	1701 Psychology
utslib.for	1702 Cognitive Sciences
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Health
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Strength - ASRC Australian Stuttering Research Centre
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Health/Graduate School of Health/GSH.Australian Stuttering Research Centre
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Health/Graduate School of Health
utslib.copyright.status	open_access	*
dc.date.updated	2021-01-27T21:52:42Z
pubs.publication-status	Published
pubs.volume	13

Abstract:

© 2020 Cambridge University Press. All rights reserved. The recent COVID-19 pandemic has triggered a surge in anxiety across the globe. Much of the public's behavioural and emotional response to the virus can be understood through the framework of terror management theory, which proposes that fear of death drives much of human behaviour. In the context of the current pandemic, death anxiety, a recently proposed transdiagnostic construct, appears especially relevant. Fear of death has recently been shown to predict not only anxiety related to COVID-19, but also to play a causal role in various mental health conditions. Given this, it is argued that treatment programmes in mental health may need to broaden their focus to directly target the dread of death. Notably, cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) has been shown to produce significant reductions in death anxiety. As such, it is possible that complementing current treatments with specific CBT techniques addressing fears of death may ensure enhanced long-Term symptom reduction. Further research is essential in order to examine whether treating death anxiety will indeed improve long-Term outcomes, and prevent the emergence of future disorders in vulnerable populations. Key learning aims (1) To understand terror management theory and its theoretical explanation of death anxiety in the context of COVID-19.(2) To understand the transdiagnostic role of death anxiety in mental health disorders.(3) To understand current treatment approaches for directly targeting death anxiety, and the importance of doing so to improve long-Term treatment outcomes.

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http://hdl.handle.net/10453/145607