Fearing Death and Caring for the Dying

Abstract

It is frequently alleged that health care workers with higher than statistically normal fear of death are, in virtue of that characteristic, ill equipped to render optimal care to the terminally ill. The plausibility of this claim rests on anumber of highly dubious claims about the nature and status of death anxiety and its relation to the phenomenon of death denial. I argue that the fear of death is not nearly so undesirable as supposed, that it may well be psychologically unavoidable, grounded in the human condition, and by and large altogether reasonable. Moreover, it is seriously confusing to equate the fear of death with the denial of death. Once we are clear about these matters, it can be seen that not merely is the fear of death compatible with the capacity to render quality care to the dying, but such care is unlikely to be given by those who do not candidly and honestly acknowledge the reality of their own fear and struggle to avoid denial.