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A study in Australia found that individuals with more pronounced death anxiety (i.e., fear of death) tend to report stronger insomnia symptoms. This association did not depend on the attachment style of an individual. The paper was published in Death Studies.
Fear of death, often called death anxiety, is the emotional distress people experience when thinking about their own death, the death of loved ones, or the process of dying. It can involve fear of pain, loss of control, separation from others, nonexistence, or uncertainty about what happens after death.
Some degree of death anxiety is common and may motivate people to protect themselves, maintain relationships, and seek meaning in life. However, when it becomes intense or persistent, it can contribute to avoidance, excessive health concerns, panic, sleep difficulties, or reduced enjoyment of everyday life. The intensity of death anxiety differs across individuals and may be influenced by age, personality, health, religious beliefs, cultural background, and previous experiences with loss.
People often manage this fear through close relationships, personal achievements, spiritual beliefs, cultural traditions, or the feeling that their lives have purpose and lasting significance. Major illness, bereavement, disasters, and reminders of human vulnerability can bring thoughts of death closer to awareness and temporarily increase anxiety.
Study author Rachel E. Menzies and her colleagues examined the associations between death anxiety and insomnia. Furthermore, they wanted to explore whether this link depends on an individual’s attachment style and whether it is mediated by the severity of nightmares. They conducted an online survey.
Study participants were 515 adults recruited from the general public via media outlets, social media, and the study website. 70% of them were women. 89% were from Australia, and 85% identified as Caucasian. 40% of them had postgraduate degrees. Participants’ average age was 44 years.
The online survey participants completed contained assessments of death anxiety (the Death Anxiety Beliefs and Behaviors Scale), attachment style (the Adult Attachment Scale), anxiety (the Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7), insomnia (the Insomnia Severity Index), and the severity of nightmares (the Disturbing Dream and Nightmare Severity Index).
As expected, the results indicated that individuals with higher death anxiety tended to report slightly more severe insomnia and nightmares. They also tended to report slightly more severe anxiety symptoms.
Study authors tested a statistical model proposing that higher levels of death anxiety were associated with more severe nightmares. These more severe nightmares, in turn, increased insomnia. Results supported this model, indicating that nightmare severity partially explains the link between death anxiety and insomnia.
Contrary to the study authors’ expectations, the link between death anxiety and insomnia was not moderated by attachment style.
“These findings suggest that death anxiety may play a greater role in insomnia than previously considered and may be an important intervention target,” study authors concluded.
The study sheds light on the links between death anxiety and insomnia. However, it should be noted that the cross-sectional study design does not allow any causal inferences to be derived from the findings. Additionally, all data came from self-reports, leaving room for reporting bias to have affected the results.
The paper, “Is a fear of death keeping you awake at night? Death anxiety predicts insomnia through nightmare severity,” was authored by Rachel E. Menzies, Jessie Brown, Mitchell Turner, David Cunnington, Malisa Burge, Ian C. Dunican, and Hailey Meaklim.