1 While this phenomenon often occurs in older adults, it's not uncommon for children to worry about death especially if they are already dealing with the loss of a loved one, anxiety, or a parent's illness.
Listen and talk openly about death
“Listen when your child asks questions about death and dying,” says Amber. “By listening, you're communicating that they're not alone which can relieve the burden of any fears they might have.
Between the ages of 5 and 7 years, children gradually begin to develop an understanding that death is permanent and irreversible and that the person who has died will not return.
A fear of death is relatively common amongst children but has been particularly heightened during this coronavirus crisis. Death anxiety amongst children can manifest in a variety of behaviours including teariness, anxiety, anger, unspecific “worries”, clinginess, risk-taking behaviour, and nightmares.
Age and gender
The studies claim that death anxiety peaks in men and women when in their 20s, but after this group, gender plays a role in the path that one takes. Either gender can experience a decline in death concerns with age, but the studies show an unexpected second spike in women during their early 50s.
If the fear of death overwhelms you, seeking out standard treatments for anxiety, professional help, or learning healthy coping mechanisms can be your ticket to relief and control over these emotions.
The presence of death anxiety is reported to peak in middle age and disappear in the elderly (20, 24, 25).
Childhood anxiety disorders are very common, affecting one in eight children. The National Institute of Mental Health estimates a prevalence between the ages 13 and 18 years of 25.1 percent and a lifetime prevalence of 5.9 percent for severe anxiety disorder.
Anxiety is one of the most common mental health concerns for children and adults, affecting upwards of 20% of children and adolescents over the lifespan. Anxious youth are often quiet and well behaved, and thus frequently go unnoticed by their parents, teachers, and coaches.
Although this can be a challenging conversation for all of us, children's interest in death is completely normal and the best thing is always to be honest, but simple (because none of us have fully unraveled the mysteries about life and death) and reassure your child to keep the lines of communication open.
Mindfulness practices like meditation and guided imagery can help center your thoughts and teach you not to react to stress triggers. Healthy lifestyle practices like exercising regularly, eating a healthy diet, and getting enough sleep can not only make you feel better physically but increase feelings of well-being.
Death is a natural part of life, and it's normal to think about it from time to time. But it's very common for people experiencing mental illness to think about death more than usual.
10 to 12 Years of Age
Making the transition to a more adult understanding of death. Intellectually understand it to be final and irreversible. Further developing an acute sense of morality and may continue to view death as punishment. Learning to understand both the biological and emotional aspect of death.
Why are we scared of death? The reasons why death is scary are often related to the fears of the unknown, of non-existence, of eternal punishment, of the loss of control, and fear of what will happen to the people we love.
Use simple words to talk about death.
Be calm and caring when you tell your child that someone has died. Use words that are clear and direct. "I have some sad news to tell you. Grandma died today." Pause to give your child a moment to take in your words.
Severe anxiety can affect children's health and happiness. Some anxious children will grow out of their fears, but others will keep having trouble with anxiety unless they get professional help.
Environment. Traumatic events like divorce, illness or death in the family can trigger anxiety in children. And family members who are noticeably anxious or stressed can increase children's anxiety.
If a child expresses feeling nervous or unsure of their ability to perform certain tasks because of their ADHD, those nervous feelings are likely part of their ADHD. If, instead, they have a pervasive feeling of fear that isn't linked to a specific experience, it is more likely a sign of anxiety.
Genetic factors: GAD may run in families. Just as a child can inherit parent's brown hair, green eyes, and nearsightedness, a child can also inherit that parent's tendency toward excessive anxiety. Current research suggests that one-third of the risk of experienced GAD is genetic.
Youth with Severe Major Depressive Episode 2023
11.5% of youth (or over 2.7 million youth) are experiencing severe major depression. Rates of a severe major depressive episode were highest among youth who identified as more than one race, at 16.5% (about 123,000 youth).
As a person is dying they will have less energy and become easily tired. They are likely to become weaker and may spend more time asleep. They may become detached from reality, or unaware of what is happening around them. They may be less interested in eating and drinking.
Jules Howard explains why that might be a mistake. According to data from the company Statista, just 11 per cent of us consider death in our daily lives. Most of us are clearly busy with the subject of life, perhaps only considering the subject three or four times a year.
Our minds have a negativity bias for survival reasons. As discussed above, we're more motivated to pay attention to negative things to be better prepared for worst-case scenarios. This is why people experiencing depression, anxiety, pain, and illness are likely to think that death is near.