Death anxiety in brain tumour patients and their spouses

When a person is diagnosed with a severe disease, it seems plausible that e xistential questions and death anxiety are easily intensified. The aims of this study were to explore whether this is the case, to what extent patient s and their next of kin experience death anxiety, and how these experiences are expressed. Following a purposive sampling technique, 20 patients with brain tumours and 15 of their next of kin took part in interviews. A conten t and context analysis were performed using a hermeneutic approach, in orde r to identify and analyse main categories. Six main categories common to pa tients and their next of kin emerged during the process: (1) emotional reac tions that could be related to death anxiety and included general anxiety, anguish, sadness, hope and despair; (2) existential fear, existential anxie ty and existential pain; (3) contradictions; (4) trigger situations; (5) co ping strategies related to death anxiety; and (6) new values for life. Besi des these categories, a further category emerged, experiences characteristi c of the next of kin. The study shows that both the patients and their next of kin are preoccupie d with existential thoughts and death anxiety. The problems are easily over looked as the death anxiety is not always expressed directly. Staff need to be more aware of these situations in order to provide existential support.