“A lot of our fear of death is about losing the things we've built up,” says Steve Taylor, a lecturer in psychology at Leeds Beckett University in Leeds, England, and the author of Out of Darkness. “But elderly people let go of their attachment to these things, and in the process they let go of some of their fear.”
We get better at this as we age. A 2000 meta-analysis found that fear of death grows in the first half of life, but by the time we hit the 61-to-87 age group, it recedes to a stable, manageable level.
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.
Additionally, they have less anxiety because they have already experienced the death of loved ones and have become accustomed to the likelihood of death. It is not death itself that concerns those in late adulthood; rather, it is having control over how they die.
24. Older adults are less anxious about death than are younger and middle-‐aged adults. True. Although death in industrialized society has come to be associated primarily with old age, studies generally indicate that death anxiety in adults decreases as age increases.
Individuals in early adulthood typically expect a long life ahead of them, and consequently do not think about, nor worry about death. Middle Adulthood: Those in middle adulthood report more fear of death than those in either early and late adulthood.
Attitudes about death are closely related to culture and religion. Children between the ages of 5 and 7 years know that death is final. Older persons usually have fewer fears about death than younger adults. Dying people continue to have psychological, social, and spiritual needs.
The presence of death anxiety is reported to peak in middle age and disappear in the elderly (20, 24, 25).
They find that atheists are among those least afraid of dying...and, perhaps not surprisingly, the very religious. Religion has long been thought to be a solution to the problem of death. Notions of an afterlife are nearly universal, though there is great diversity in the details.
As we age, we produce much less adrenaline, which can cause racing hearts and dizziness. This means the intense fears we may have experienced in youth no longer trouble us as much. However, older people often experience a greater sense of vulnerability, so things like heights or big crowds become more of an issue.
One study suggests that elderly people are more likely to fear the dying process, while young adults are more likely to fear death itself. Another study found that the children of elderly parents actually had a higher level of death anxiety than their parents, peaking at around middle age.
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.
As you age, some fears dissipate, yet fears about being over-the-hill can creep into your daily life. Fear of not living up to expectations, fear of taking risks, fear of retirement, and a fear of the future. It's an uncomfortable feeling because it means you are no longer in control.
The answer: yes, humans can be scared to death. In fact, any strong emotional reaction can trigger fatal amounts of a chemical, such as adrenaline, in the body. It happens very rarely, but it can happen to anyone.
It's rare, but it can happen. Intense emotion can actually trigger a heart attack in susceptible individuals (especially those suffering from other heart conditions). But even people without an underlying heart problem can literally be scared (almost) to death.
Accidents are the leading cause of death for people aged 25-44, followed by suicide and cancer. For those 65 and older, the top causes of death are roughly the same as the top causes of death for the overall population (heart disease and cancer). This is because those 65 and older made up 74% of all deaths in 2018.
Adults often resent death because it affects plans, hopes, dreams, and ambitions. See Focus on Children and Older Persons: Age. Infants and toddlers do not understand the nature or meaning of death. They know or sense that something is different.
Babies have no concept of death. Babies do react to separation from a parent, painful procedures, and any change in their routine. A baby who is terminally ill will need as much physical and emotional care as any age group.
The symptoms may come and go over an individual's lifetime. Someone with mild death anxiety might experience heightened anxiety when they think about their death or the death of a loved one, such as when they or a family member is seriously ill.
It is important that you are supportive in your words. Saying things like “I'm here for you.” or “It's okay to be scared.” or asking questions like “Is there something that helps calm you?” can be very meaningful.
Fears of bereavement and the explicit fear of loneliness in old age were among the main reasons why individuals did not want to live up to an age of 100 years in a study by Karppinen and colleagues (2016).
School-age
School-aged children have a more realistic understanding of death. Although death may be personified as an angel, skeleton, or ghost, this age group is starting to view death as permanent. They know that everyone dies.
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.
Second, previous research has shown that women experience higher levels of death anxiety than men [64]. However, the present study did not find a sex difference in self-reported death anxiety.