Stoicism and death acceptance: integrating Stoic philosophy in cognitive behaviour therapy for death anxiety

Abstract

Growing empirical evidence has revealed the central role of death anxiety in numerous mental health conditions. Given this, there is a significant need for treatments which specifically address fears of death. Whilst such treatments have only recently been developed within clinical psychology, the discipline of philosophy has a long history of offering valuable perspectives on death which may ameliorate this fear. In particular, we propose that the philosophy of Stoicism, which originated in ancient Greece and influenced the early development of cognitive and behaviour therapy (CBT), is of particular benefit to clinicians seeking to address death anxiety. We present a summary of Stoic philosophy and its arguments concerning death. Through integrating the ideas of Stoicism, we argue that current treatments for death anxiety would benefit from directly integrating Stoic perspectives on death. Lastly, we review evidence which suggests that cultivating attitudes to death which are consistent with Stoic philosophy may be associated with reduced death anxiety. We conclude that an awareness of Stoic philosophy has the potential to guide and improve CBT treatments for fears of death. Further research is needed in order to confirm whether treatments centering on Stoic perspectives on death lead to significant reductions in death anxiety.

The development and validation of the Death Anxiety Beliefs and Behaviours Scale

“…This promising finding highlights the need to target death anxiety using CBT‐based interventions, which specifically address the maladaptive beliefs (e.g. in contrast with helpful beliefs associated with neutral acceptance of death; Menzies & Whittle, 2022 ) and behaviours which maintain death anxiety (e.g. avoidance, argued to be the most common maladaptive coping strategy used for fears of death; McKenzie et al, 2017 ).…”

“…Despite this, no psychometrically adequate measures of the construct exist • A measure of affect, beliefs and behaviours related to death anxiety was developed • Across three samples, items were refined and exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were performed • The final 18-item measure showed good validity and reliability. It appears to be a useful clinical and research tool to assess death anxiety beliefs associated with neutral acceptance of death; Menzies & Whittle, 2022) and behaviours which maintain death anxiety (e.g. avoidance, argued to be the most common maladaptive coping strategy used for fears of death; McKenzie et al, 2017).…”

Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT) to Reduce Death Anxiety (Thanatophobia) in HIV/AIDS Patients

“…According to (Balasubramanian et al, 2018) that the factors that contribute to preventing thanatophobia are high self-esteem, high religious beliefs, good health, sense of satisfaction in life, intimacy with family and friends, high fighting spirit. Furthermore (Menzies & Whittle, 2022) states that a person's fortitude can reduce death anxiety, where this fortitude is the basis of Cognitive Behavior Therapy and is a potential guide to the success of CBT. thanatophobia in respondents, in addition to being influenced by factors such as health conditions such as opportunistic infections that can cause death, also because most of the HIV patients who became respondents were homosexuals who had less religious beliefs.…”

“…Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT) is a psychotherapy that has been proven to be effective in overcoming anxiety in patients with chronic fatigue syndrome, overcoming insomnia, effectively reducing anxiety, and deprereducinganxietys with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Diseases. (COPD), reducing death anxiety in covid 19 Effectively incresersilience and acceptanresilienceth in individuals experiencing death anxiety (Menzies & Whittle, 2022) Furthermore (Menzies et al, 2021) developed an online CBT program to overcome death anxiety and showed significant results.…”

Dekonstruksi Imortalitas dalam kerangka Kritik terhadap Modernitas dan Pascamodernitas: Telaah Zygmunt Bauman

“…Isu kematian dan kekekalan ternyata masih terus mendapatkan perhatian dari para filsuf kontemporer dalam lanskap pemikiran filsafat kontemporer selama dua dekade terakhir (Andrade, n.d.;Bradley, Feldman, Johansson, 2012;Buben, 2022;Cholbi, 2016;Cholbi dan Timmerman, 2021;Farman, 2018;Knepper, Bregman, dan Gottschalk, 2019;Luper, 2009;Menzies & Whittle, 2022;Minerva, 2018;Palladino, 2016;Rojcewicz, 2021;Rothblatt, 2015;Scarre, 2007;Schumacher, 2010;Sisto, 2020;Stokes, 2021;von Verschuer, 2019) [ii].…”