Death Anxiety, Mental Health and Meaning in Life During COVID-19

Yıl 2023, Cilt: 10 Sayı: 3, 535 - 546, 31.12.2023

Munire Temel Elif Ok Nur Elçin Boyacıoğlu

Öz

Objectives: COVID-19 triggered feelings of uncertainty, resulting in people worrying about both their lives and the lives of their families. Studies showed that prevalence of anxiety in society increased due to COVID-19 and that there was a greater need for mental health care. The aim of this study was to research the influence of the COVID-19 pandemic on individuals’ death anxiety, mental health, sense of meaning in life.
Materials and Methods: This study is a cross-sectional design. The study was conducted with 565 individuals reached online. The data were obtained using Turkish Death Anxiety Scale, General Health Questionnaire-12, Meaning in Life Questionnaire between 1-20 June 2021.
Results: It was found that those who had had COVID-19, whose relatives had had the disease or who had lost relatives due to it, had a higher level of death anxiety. Participants with a symptomatic history of COVID-19 had a higher risk of mental health problems. Those at risk of mental health problems and those who were searching for meaning in their lives had more death anxiety.
Conclusion: Health professionals should evaluate the feelings and thoughts of patients and their relatives about COVID-19 and allow them to express these. They should also help them find meaning in their experiences of the disease and cope with death anxiety.

Anahtar Kelimeler

anxiety, COVID-19, death anxiety, mental health, meaning in life

Kaynakça

• Arslan, G., Yıldırım, M., Karataş, Z., Kabasakal, Z., & Kılınç, M. (2020). Meaningful living to promote complete mental health among university students in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction, 1-13. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11469-020-00416-8
• Aşkın, R. Bozkurt, Y., & Zeybek, Z.(2020). Covid-19 pandemisi: Psikolojik etkileri ve terapötik müdahaleler [Covıd-19 pandemic: Psychologıcal effects and therapeutic interventions]. İstanbul Ticaret Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Dergisi, 19(37), 304-318.
• Çölgeçen, Y., & Çölgeçen, H. (2020). Covid-19 Pandemisine Bağlı Yaşanan Kaygı Düzeylerinin Değerlendirilmesi: Türkiye Örneği [Evaluation of anxiety Levels Arising from Covid-19 pandemic: the case of Turkey]. Electronic Turkish Studies, 15(4), 261-275. https://doi.org/10.7827/TurkishStudies.44399
• Dehkordi, M.A., Eisazadeh, F., & Aghjanbaglu, S. (2020). Psychological Consequences of Patients with Coronavirus (COVID-19): A Qualitative Study. Iranian Journal of Health Psychology, 2(2), 9-20. https://doi.org/10.30473/IJOHP.2020.52395.1074
• Demirbaş, N. (2010). Yaşamda anlam ve yılmazlık. [Unpublished master’s thesis]. Hacettepe Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü.
• Demirbaş Çelik, N. (2016). Üniversite öğrencilerinin yaşamda anlam ve yaşam amaçları arasındaki ilişki [The Relationship between Meaning in Life and the Purpose of Life for University Students]. Mediterranean Journal of Humanities, 6(1), 133-141. https://doi.org/10.13114/MJH.2016119294
• Glaw, X., Kable, A., Hazelton, M., & Inder, K. (2017). Meaning in life and meaning of life in mental health care: An integrative literature review. Issues in Mental Health Nursing, 38(3), 243-252. https://doi.org/10.1080/01612840.2016.1253804
• Goldberg, D.P. & Hillier, V.F. (1979). A scaled version of the General Health Questionnaire. Psychol Med, 9(1), 139-45. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0033291700021644.
• García-Alandete, J. (2015.) Does Meaning in Life Predict Psychological Well-Being? The European Journal of Counselling Psychology, 3(2):89-98. https://doi.org/10.5964/ejcop.v3i2.27
• Kandemir, F. (2020). Bazı Demografik Değişkenler Bağlamında Covid-19 Pandemi Neslinin Dindarlık ve Ölüm Kaygısı İlişkisi Üzerine Ampirik Bir Araştırma [An Empirical Research on the Relationship of Covid-19 Pandemic Generation’s Religiosity and Death Anxiety in the Context of Some Demographic Variables]. Tokat İlmiyat Dergisi, 8(1), 99-129. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3876200
• Karakuş, G., Öztürk, Z., & Tamam, L. (2012). Death and Death Anxiety. Archives Medical Review Journal, 21(1), 42-79.
• Kılıç, C. (1996). Genel sağlık anketi: Güvenilirlik ve geçerlilik çalışması. Türk Psikiyatri Dergisi, 7(1), 3-9.
• Kul, A., Demir, R., & Katmer, A. N. (2020). Covid-19 Salgını Döneminde Psikolojik Sağlamlığın Yordayıcısı Olarak Yaşam Anlamı ve Kaygı [Meaning of Life and Anxiety as Predictors of Psycholological Resilience During the Covid-19 epidemic]. Electronic Turkish Studies, 15(6),695-719.
• Lee, S. A., Jobe, M. C., Mathis, A. A., & Gibbons, J. A. (2020). Incremental validity of coronaphobia: Coronavirus anxiety explains depression, generalized anxiety, and death anxiety. Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 74, 102268. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.janxdis.2020.102268
• Lew, B., Huen, J., Yu, P., Yuan, L., Wang, D. F., Ping, F., Abu Talip, M., Lester, D., & Jia, C. X. (2019). Associations between depression, anxiety, stress, hopelessness, subjective well-being, coping styles and suicide in Chinese university students. PloS One, 14(7), e0217372. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0217372
• Moghanibashi-Mansourieh, A. (2020). Assessing the anxiety level of Iranian general population during COVID-19 outbreak. Asian Journal of Psychiatry, 51, 102076. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajp.2020.102076
• Mucci, F., Mucci, N., & Diolaiuti, F. (2020). Lockdown and isolation: psychological aspects of COVID-19 pandemic in the general population. Clinical Neuropsychiatry, 17(2), 63-64. https://doi.org/10.36131/CN20200205
• Nienaber, K., & Goedereis, E. (2015). Death anxiety and education: A comparison among undergraduate and graduate students. Death Studies, 39(8), 483-490. https://doi.org/10.1080/07481187.2015.1047057
• Özyürek, A., & Atalay, D. (2020). COVID-19 Pandemisinde yetişkinlerde yaşamın anlamı ve ölüm kaygısı ile iyilik hali arasındaki ilişkinin incelenmesi [Pandemic investigation of the relationshıp between the death anxiety and meaning of life with well-being of adults in covid-19 pandemic]. Turan: Stratejik Arastirmalar Merkezi, 12(46), 458-472. https://doi.org/10.15189/1308-8041
• Pradhan, M.,Chettri, A., & Maheshwari, S. (2020): Fear of death in the shadow of COVID-19: The mediating role of perceived stress in the relationship between neuroticism and death anxiety, Death Studies, https://doi.org/10.1080/07481187.2020.1833384
• Roy, D., Tripathy, S., Kar, S. K., Sharma, N., Verma, S. K., & Kaushal, V. (2020). Study of knowledge, attitude, anxiety & perceived mental healthcare need in Indian population during COVID-19 pandemic. Asian Journal of Psychiatry, 51, 102083. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajp.2020.102083
• Republic of Turkey Ministry of Health. (2022). COVID-19 Bilgilendirme Platformu. https://covid19.saglik.gov.tr/TR-66935/genel-koronavirus-tablosu.html
• Santabárbara , J., Lasheras, I., Lipnicki, D.M., Bueno-Notivol J., Pérez-Moreno M., López-Antón, R .,De la Cámara C.,Lobo, A., & Gracia-García, P. (2021). Prevalence of anxiety in the COVID-19 pandemic: An updated meta-analysis of community-based studies. Neuro-Psychopharmacology and Biological Psychiatry,109 , Progress in 13 July 2021, 110207
• Sarıkaya, Y., & Baloğlu, M. (2016). The development and psychometric properties of the Turkish death anxiety scale (TDAS). Death Studies, 40(7),419-431. https://doi.org/10.1080/07481187.2016.1158752
• Steger, M. F., Frazier, P., Oishi, S., & Kaler, M. (2006). The meaning in life questionnaire: Assessing the presence of and search for meaning in life. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 53(1), 80. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-0167.53.1.80
• Şahin, M., Aydın, B., Sarı, S. V., Sezen, K., & Havva, P. (2012). Öznel İyi Oluşu Açıklamada Umut ve Yaşamda Anlamın Rolü [The role of hope and the meaning in life in explaining subjectıve well-being]. Kastamonu Eğitim Dergisi, 20(3), 827-836.
• Trzebiński, J., Cabański, M., & Czarnecka, J. Z. (2020). Reaction to the COVID-19 pandemic: the influence of meaning in life, life satisfaction, and assumptions on world orderliness and positivity. Journal of Loss and Trauma, 25(6-7), 544-557. https://doi.org/10.1080/15325024.2020.1765098
• Yukay Yüksel, M.,Güneş, F., & Akdağ, C. (2017). Investigation of the Death Anxiety and Meaning in Life Levels among Middle-Aged Adults. Spırıtual Psychology And Counselıng, 2(2), 165–181. https://doi.org/10.12738/spc.2017.2.0024
• Wang, C., Pan, R., Wan, X., Tan, Y., Xu, L., Ho, C. S., & Ho, R. C. (2020). Immediate psychological responses and associated factors during the initial stage of the 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) epidemic among the general population in China. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17(5), 1729. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17051729
• World Health Organisation. (2022). WHO Coronavirus (COVID-19) Dashboard. https://covid19.who.int/
• Yalom, I. (2001). Existential Psychotheraphy [Varoluşçu Psikoterapi.). Kabalcı Yayınevi. (Original work published 1980)
• Yıldırım, M., & Güler. A. (2021). Positivity explains how COVID-19 perceived risk increases death distress and reduces happiness. Personality and Individual Differences, 168(1), 110347. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2020.110347