Death Anxiety: Dani Chammas & Keri Brenner
episode
GeriPal - A Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine Podcast
1h 0m
2 speakers
8 chapters
transcribed 10 hours ago
Transcript
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Transcript generated automatically by AI and may contain errors.
What is death anxiety and how is it defined?
This episode of the JerryPal Podcast is CME eligible.
To claim credit, please go to the CME tab on jerrypal.org.
Welcome to the JerryPal podcast. This is Eric Guidara.
This is Alex Smith.
And Alex, I think we have some returning guests with us today.
We are delighted to welcome back our psychiatrist and palliative care dynamic duo, Danny Shamas, who is a psychiatrist and palliative care doc at UCSF. Danny, welcome back to the Jerry Pal podcast.
Thanks for having me.
And Carrie Brenner, who's a psychiatrist and palliative care doc at Stanford. Carrie, welcome back to JerryPal.
Great to be here.
So I probably shouldn't admit this because I know I have Danny on and she's gonna quiz me if I I say that I listened to uh one of her and Carrie's talk, but I did at HPM had a great talk about death anxiety. I thought, man, like this is the first time I've ever actually been in a talk about death anxiety. So I love to hear kind of what it is, how we should be thinking about it. So um welcome there, we're death anxiety. Anxiety podcast, not to add some more anxiety into your lives. Um, but before we jump into the topic, Danny, I think you have a song request.
Yes. Don't fear the Reaper by Blue Oyster Quote.
Besides being perfect for this uh talk, any other reason why you chose this song?
Well, I mean, honestly, nothing says let's talk about death like a classic rock anthem, but Maybe the Reaper has a lot to teach us. Maybe fear isn't the only way to face fear.
Okay.
Very deep. Lots of
layers to that, Danny.
Here's a little bit and uh I'm putting my son Kai to work 'cause he's home for the summer from college. So if you're listening on the audio only, you get Kai and guitar.
All our times have come. Here but now they're gone. Seasons don't fear the Reaper. No the wind, the sun, nor the rain. We can be like they are. Come on, baby, don't fear the Reaper, baby. Take my hand, don't fear the Reaper. We'll be able to fly. Don't fear the Reaper, baby. I'm your man.
Such a good song. Good choice, Danny. Thank
you.
That was fun.
All right, Danny, let's talk about fear in the Reaper. Either one of you, like what? What is death anxiety? What what should I how we are defining that for this podcast?
Yeah, let's let's dive in, Eric and Alex, with some definitions to start to ground us.
Yeah.
Death anxiety is the psychological and existential distress that's related to one's own death, the process of dying, or the prospect of non-existence or concerns about the afterlife. So death anxiety in that regard can be conscious or unconscious. It encompasses fears. Apprehension, dread. At its core, it exists because we as human beings are uniquely aware that we are mortal beings. And that awareness is what sets the stage for death anxiety to emerge. And I often think of psychiatrist Irvin Yallum, who's here at Stanford, 93 years old now. He describes death anxiety as one of the four ultimate concerns of human existence. So the other concerns beyond that, the second is meaninglessness, that craving we have for purpose.
Loss of freedom, concerns about autonomy, responsibility for choices, and lastly, a sense of isolation or that existential loneliness. So the most salient feature of death anxiety is that it is truly universal to the human experience. It's tempting for us to conceptualize it as something that's just this circumscribed thing that only happens to patients who are seriously. And that's just erroneous in myopic.
So universal is a very strong statement because the the longer I do medicine, the more I realize like nothing is universal. Like pain. Like we always think, oh, pain is universal. But no, like there's some people who can't feel pain. Like there's it's such a diversity. Like I can imagine it's I think the word I heard on your your talk was ubiquitous. It's common, but
I'll challenge you.
Why do the hosts play “Don’t Fear the Reaper” and how does it frame the conversation?
Yeah. Name one human you know who isn't gonna die.
Uh there is none. But Sounds pretty universal. But no. I I know I'm 'cause quite honestly, uh I'm what
about like um people who are stoics or who are Buddhist monks?
Yes. We can we can definitely, I'm excited to dive into that in this conversation because there are certain it it's an this is a phenomenon that's intrinsic to our human existence.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What is death anxiety and how is it defined?
0:00–4:39
2
Why do the hosts play “Don’t Fear the Reaper” and how does it frame the conversation?
4:39–12:20
3
How does death anxiety differ from a pathological anxiety disorder?
12:20–26:42
4
Is death anxiety a universal human experience or does it vary by culture and individual belief?
26:42–37:17
5
How can clinicians recognize and respond to unconscious versus conscious death anxiety in patients?
37:17–50:42
6
What clinical tools and therapeutic approaches help patients cope with death anxiety?
50:42–57:22
7
How do personal experiences of mortality shape a clinician’s practice and empathy?
57:22–59:11
8
If you could give clinicians one actionable tip about death anxiety, what would it be?
59:11–1:00:21
Speakers
2 identifiedMore from GeriPal - A Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine Podcast
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