Fear of personal death among physicians

Many studies have tried to explain why professionals experience difficulty when dealing with, and in treating efficiently, situations connected with d eath. We studied levels of fear of personal death among physicians and addr essed two questions: Does exposure to death on professional and personal le vels affect the level of fear of personal death which physicians experience ? Is there a relationship between personality variables, represented by the repression-sensitization dimension, and level of fear of personal death? A sample of 233 physicians who specialized in oncology, internal medicine, s urgery, psychiatry, and pediatrics was studied. Results revealed no differe nces in lever of fear of personal death of physicians according to speciali zation, but those who had been exposed to death on the personal level feare d less in relation to their own death. With respect to the personality vari able, tendency to sensitization, it was found that those who were sensitize d exhibited a higher level of fear of their own death compared to those who were repressive. Of the various demographic variables examined, it was fou nd that those with many years of professional experience, who were relative ly older, who were nonobservant religiously, and who were in good health ha d lower levels of personal fear of death.