Traumatic experiences stemming from 'Kuki'-Meitei bloody clash
Death anxiety among displaced inmates in burning Sanaleibak-Kangleipak
- Part 3 -

Chakpram Purnima Devi *

HEALTH CONDITIONS AND DEATH ANXIETY

Both physical and psychological health signifi- cantly affected the levels of death anxiety. Higher level of psychological wellbeing is associated with lower level of death anxiety. In contrast, a study, conducted in China 2018 revealed that physical health was unrelated to death anxiety among Chinese elderly people.

Several studies found good physical health to be associated with lower death anxiety.

The results indicated 55.60% studies found people with good health to have lower death anxiety; (11.11%) study found no linkage between health and death anxiety; and (33.33%) reported to have positive relationship between physical and psychological health to be related to low or high death anxiety. Since most studies indicated good health to be a good predictor of low death anxiety, it was hypothesized that:

Hypothesis : Participants with good physical health would have lower death anxiety than participants with poor physical health.

To sum up, an attempt was made to explore the extent of Post Traumatic death anxiety levels among displaced inmates, taking shelter in the relief camps located in Imphal. In the following sections, we shall discuss socio-demographic characteristics of the participants, results and discu- ssions, findings and conclusions, limitations of the study, destructive consequences of death anxiety, and psychological interventions for death anxiety.

Discussion

Table 2:Global Death Anxiety: Majority of the respondents had Moderate (75.50%) level of death anxiety, Low (13.20%), and High (11.30%) and the difference was statistically highly significant at <0.001 level.

Table 3:Age and Death Anxiety: No significant (>0.05 level) age differences among younger and older respondents in death anxiety was noted, withM=9.85, SD=3.071 and M=9.79, SD=2.747, respectively, but younger participants tended to have higher death anxiety. Hence, the hypothesis that "Younger inmates would experience higher death anxiety than older inmates" was not supported.

Table 4:Gender and Death Anxiety: Females (M=10.22, SD=2.89) significantly (<0.05 level) scored higher death anxiety than males (M=9.13, SD=2.76). Hence, the hypothesis that "Female inmates would experience higher death anxiety than male inmates" was supported.

Table 5:Education Level and Death Anxiety: Illiterates (M=10.39,SD=2.95) significantly (<0.05 level) had higher death anxiety than students (M=9.21,SD=2.71) and educated ones(M=9.97, SD=2.93). Hence, the hypothesis that"The higher the levels of education, the lower will be the death anxiety" was supported.

Table 6 : Occupation and Death Anxiety: The occupation of the subjects statistically (>0.05) had nothing to do with death anxiety; however, those working in organized sector (M=11.25, SD=2.31) tended to have higher death anxiety than students/homemakers (M=9.73, SD=2.79) and unorganized workers (M=9.74, SD=3.04). Hence, the hypothesis that "There will be significant differences in death anxiety among people working in organised and unorganised sector, including unemployed partici- pants" was not supported.

Table 7: Marital Status and Death Anxiety: No significant (>0.05 level) differences in death anxiety between married (M=10.13, SD=2.97) and unmarried respondents (M=9.35, SD=2.71), but married individuals appeared to have higher death anxiety than unmarried ones.

Hence, the hypothesis that "Married inmates would have higher death anxiety than unmarried ones" was not supported.

Table 8: Self-Reported Physical Health and Death Anxiety: No significant (>0.05) difference in death anxiety between respondents who had self-reported their physical health to be Poor (M=10.75, SD=2.62), Moderate (M=10.18, SD=2.52), and Good M=8.51, SD=2.97), but participants with Good physical health tended to have lower death anxiety. Thus, the hypothesis "Participants with good physical health would have lower death anxiety than participants with poor physical health" was not supported.

Findings and Conclusion

After holding other variables constant, the present study found female and illiterate/mere literate inmates to have significantly higher levels of death anxiety. Although we found no significant difference in death anxiety based on age, marital status, occupation, and self-reported physical health, younger and married participants, those working in the organized sector occupations and participants with poor and moderate physical health tended to have slightly higher death anxiety levels as compared with their respective counterparts.

On the other hand, considering the present death-related traumatic experiences being encountered most particularly by displaced people, we believed that it could have possible destructive impact on the development of many types of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and other anxiety disorders.

From among the anxiety disorders, we need to pay special attention to separation anxiety/disorder,panic attack/disorder, and other disorders that were/are likely to be experienced by such displaced populations regard- less of Kuki, Meitei, Meitei Pangal, Bihari, Gujarati, Tamil, etc.

It is, therefore, highly imperative to take up the appropriate measures for en masse rehabilitation of displaced inmates/refugees in consultation with the experts in the field. The sooner the intervention, the better. Further investigation of post-traumatic stress disorders (PTSDs) by mental health professional may be warranted.

Limitations

The study was not free from certain limitations, including small sample size, bias answer, hidden agenda, and influence of the intervening and/or extraneous variables. Regarding gene-ralizability, we may find it difficult to generalize the findings of the present study to the whole displaced inmate population because of such limitations; however, transferabilityof the findings to the whole displaced inmate population across the State, where similar situations on the ground exist, could be safely considered.

What are the destructive consequences of death anxiety ?

Death anxiety is both normal and universal; however, it has its own adaptive and maladaptive consequences. Regarding adap- tive consequences, study found a positive side of death anxiety, in which, for example, death awareness and anxiety increase the sense of commitment in romantic relationships. Anxiety is designed to protect us from danger and allow us to react quickly to emergencies. And anxious people tend to be more cautious.

Experiencing occasional anxiety is a normal part of life. However, people with anxiety disorders frequently have intense, excessive and persistent worry and fear about everyday situations. Often, anxiety disorders involved repeated episodes of sudden feelings of intense anxiety and fear or terror that reach a peak within minutes (panic attacks).

But several studies found maladaptive consequences of death anxiety, with a significant consequence for mental health problems. One commonly destructive reaction that arises when death is thought about is death anxiety. Death anxiety is defined as "the state in which an individual experiences apprehension, worry, or fear related to death and dying".

Clinical psychology research indicated that death anxiety can have a deleterious effect on wellbeing, contributing to the development and maintenance of many psychological post traumatic stress disorders (PTSDs), and other anxiety disorders, such aseparation anxiety/disorder, panic anxiety/disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, hypochondriasis, acute stress disorder, agoraphobia, Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder(OCD), depressive disorders, and eating disorders (see Iverach&Men for a review).

To be continued...