BBC says Brits fear talk of death
According to a recent article from BBC news, the British think talking about death is taboo. As a result, a survey found that half of Brits fear death. The article itself features a discussion between Paul Woolley, the director of a theology think-tank, and Malcolm Johnson, a professor of gerontology, who candidly introduce their own thoughts and questions about death.
Initially, Woolley makes a number of observations regarding death, including posing a potential reason for the fear of it:
We found in other research that if you ask people about their beliefs in terms of the after-life and the existence of some sort of life after death the majority of people think there is something but it is this issue of uncertainty that creates anxiety.
In addition to death being a potentially painful process, it seems most people fear the uncertainty of what happens after death.
To combat this fear, Malcolm believes speaking of death more frequently would be healthier for individuals and families:
So if we can create opportunities with people who will listen carefully and be non-judgemental, then you can give them a real lift, because as older people face what we call finitude, the coming of the end of life, many of them become very, very anxious and full of guilt and they’ve got no-one to talk to.
Personally, I think speaking of death more openly and freely would be healthy. Just like any other difficult subject, death is something we must process — whether it’s our own or not.
Do you fear speaking of death?
Tags: BBC, Malcolm Johnson, Paul Woolley
