Death anxiety (Thanatophobia) among drug dependents in an Arabic psychiatric hospital

Abstract

Aim: The primary aim of this study was, for the first time to our knowledge, to examine the level of death anxiety (thanatophobia) in drug dependents attending the outpatient clinic in a psychiatric hospital and to examine the relationship of demographic variables to death anxiety. Method: Eighty-five patients were recruited from outpatient psychiatric attendees at the psychiatric hospital, Kingdom of Bahrain. The death anxiety scale was administered to assess death anxiety, and a clinical psychiatric interview was used to assess psychopathology. Results: The mean age of the sample was 36.8 years (SD = 8.8). All subjects who participated in the study were Arabic males; the majority of them were primary school (i.e. first 5 years of education or schooling) educated (n = 57; 67%) and single (n = 48; 56.5%). The total mean of death anxiety score of the drug abusers was high (3.52±.95). One-way ANOVA showed that there was no significant difference among the scores the drug dependents received on the death anxiety scale related to different groups of age, education, type of the drug used, or the number of times of taking drugs per day. However, there was a significant difference in the level of control of use, marital status, duration of use, cigarettes smoking, and level of religiosity. Conclusion: The results of this study indicate that the level of death anxiety is high, in general, among drug abusers and that being divorced, not actively practicing a religious faith, having at least 1–10 years or more than 20 years history of drug abuse, and smoking at least 20 or more cigarettes per day significantly increases the level of death anxiety.

• death anxiety
• thanatophobia
• drug dependence

Declaration of Interest

The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of this article.