Existing literature shows that the level of biological attribution and stigma of depression influences willingness to seek help. However, no study has used experimental methods to explore the question whether increasing biological attribution and decreasing blameworthy attitude towards depression will enhance willingness to seek help. In so doing, 299 college students were randomly assigned to biological, destigmatization, combined, and control groups. The measures included the Biological Attribution Scale, Psychological Blame Scale, and Help-Seeking Willingness Scale. The data were analyzed by a 2 × 2 ancova (with or without biological attribution education × with or without destigmatization education) on willingness to seek professional help which was assessed 2 weeks later, with adjusting for help-seeking willingness at baseline. Results showed that biological education had a significant main effect to elevate help-seeking willingness, but destigmatization education did not. In addition, no interaction effect existed between the two independent variables. The authors suggested that biological education makes people legitimize depression as a disease entity, so that it would be a practical approach to increase people's motivation to solve their emotional afflictions, especially in societies that emphasize emotional constraints. In contrast, although destigmatization information reduces people's negative appraisals to the depressed individuals, it does not go a step further to increase people's motivation to seek professional help. Further studies are needed to clarify the mechanisms of educational effects.

Background Physicians and nurses often exhibit strong negative emotional and behavioral reactions when patients they care for pass away, and death education helps them cope with these difficulties. When implementing death education, the literature shows that experiential activities are more effective than lecturing, and progressive exposure is the best way to reduce death anxieties. This study examined the effects of coffin-lying, an activity sometimes seen in Asian cultures, on life and death attitudes of medical and nursing students. Methods During a period from 2020 to 2021, 134 medical and nursing students from a medical university in northern Taiwan voluntarily participated in this study. Among them, 53 were in the experimental group, who participated in a coffin-lying activity for nearly 3 hours, and the other 81 were in the control group. All participants filled out questionnaires 1 week before the activity (T1), 1 week after the activity (T2), and 6 ~ 11 weeks after the activity (T3). Three waves of data were analyzed by a repeated-measure analysis of variance (ANOVA). Results The “fear of death” and “death avoidance” between the experimental and control groups significantly differed at T2 and T3, and the effects of “love and care” and “feeling of existence” were only manifested at T2. In addition, there were no significant differences between the experimental and control groups in “natural acceptance”, “approach acceptance”, or “escape acceptance”. Conclusions The coffin-lying activity based on desensitization is effective in improving “fear of death” and “death avoidance”, and the effects were extended to 6 ~ 11 weeks. Coffin-lying is not only a well-designed activity that quickly reduces negative tendencies toward death, but it is also worth adopting by medical and nursing schools to make death education more comprehensive.

Background Physicians and nurses often exhibit strong negative emotional and behavioral reactions when patients they care for die, and death education helps them cope with these difficulties. When implementing death education, the literature shows that experiential activities are more effective than lecturing, and progressive exposure is the best way to reduce death anxieties. This study examined the effects of coffin-lying, an activity sometimes seen in Asian cultures, on life and death attitudes of medical and nursing students. Methods During a period from 2020 to 2021, 134 medical and nursing students from a medical university in northern Taiwan voluntarily participated in this study. Among them, 53 were in the experimental group, who participated in a coffin-lying activity for nearly 3 hours, and the other 81 were in the control group. All participants filled out questionnaires 1 week before the activity (T1), 1 week after the activity (T2), and 6 ~ 11 weeks after the activity (T3). Three waves of data were analyzed by a repeated-measure multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA). Results The effects of “love and care” and “feeling of existence” were only manifested at T2, however, the scores of “fear of death” and “death avoidance” between the experimental and control groups significantly differed at T2 and T3. In addition, there were no significant differences between the experimental and control groups in “neutral acceptance”, “approach acceptance”, or “escape acceptance”. Conclusions The coffin-lying activity based on desensitization was effective in improving “fear of death” and “death avoidance”, and the effects were sustained to 6 ~ 11 weeks. Coffin-lying is not only a well-designed activity that quickly reduces negative tendencies toward death, but it is also worth adopting by medical and nursing schools to make death education more comprehensive.