The dread of death has appeared throughout recorded human history in art, literature, song, myth, and ritual. In both ancient and modern societies, the spectre of death has always been with us, stalking the terrified living who seek to avoid its inevitable arrival. Our attempts to respond to the finitude of life range from ancient burial customs such as mummification to computerised chatbots which imitate the personality of those who have departed. Such efforts speak to the uniqueness of humans in their awareness of their own mortality. Yet death is not to be feared. Indeed, it may hold the key to living a vital, authentic life. The many authors of this volume argue persuasively that we cannot live fully without complete acceptance of the fragility and finiteness of life. This unique book explores the dread of death and its management from a wide range of perspectives with researchers and writers from a variety of cultures, academic traditions and disciplines across the globe. The fields covered are broad - including palliative care and grief, psychodynamic theory, social, developmental and clinical psychology, sociology and anthropology, counselling practice as well as history, art, and philosophy. Not only is this book a fascinating journey into the very core of the human psyche, it is also a guide to our psychological health. The challenge we all face is to discover pathways to an acceptance of death that enables a life of significance and meaning. Read, learn, and explore what an examination of the dread of death can bring to one's life.

Table of Contents:
Section 1: Theoretical Issues 1 Impermanence and the human dilemma: Observations across the ages Rachel E. Menzies 2 Fear of death: Nature, development and moderating factors Ross G. Menzies and Rachel E. Menzies 3 Beyond the dread of death: Existentialism's embrace of the meaninglessness of life Gerard Kuperus 4 Love, death, and the quest for meaning Mario Mikulincer 5 The death instinct and psychodynamic accounts of the wound of mortality Ross G. Menzies and Rachel E. Menzies 6 An intelligent design theory of the origins, evolution and function of religion: Toward an integration of existential and evolutionary perspectives Tom Pyszczynski and Sharlynn Thompson 7 Death anxiety and psychopathology Lisa Iverach Section 2: Treatment approaches 8 Death in existential psychotherapies: A critical review Joel Vos 9 Cognitive and behavioural procedures for the treatment of death anxiety Rachel E. Menzies 10 Death acceptance and the meaning-centred approach to end-of-life care Paul T. P. Wong, David F. Carreno, and Beatriz Gongora Oliver 11 Continuing bonds between the living and the dead in contemporary western societies: Implications for our understandings of death and the experience of death anxiety pp. x-x Edith Steffen and Elaine Kasket 12 Treating low self-esteem: Cognitive behavioural therapies and terror management theory Peter J. Helm, Jennifer E. Duchschere and Jeff Greenberg 13 Therapeutic interventions for the dread of death: Personal and clinical reflections Thomas Heidenreich und Alexander Noyon