Mortality awareness makes us vulnerable and can lead to a number of psychological defences. Fear of death can be simultaneously conscious and unconscious within the same person. Ten per cent of the general population has an above-average fear of dying and four per cent experiences severe fear of death. Despite these numbers, primary death anxiety has not yet been considered as a leading cause in the development of psychological disorders; the bulk of the literature on the subject has been philosophical and psychological in nature. Clinical research into the association between death anxiety and other symptoms or diseases is scarce and has mainly focused on terminally ill patients. Several years ago, a review was published describing the role of death anxiety in the development of disorders like anxiety, depression and obsessive compulsiveness (Iverach e.a., 2014).
Differences in internists’ communication with patients with persistent somatic symptoms
Although it is known that an effective therapeutic relationship contributes to positive health outcomes, there is reason to believe that physicians’ interactions with patients with persistent somatic symptoms (PSS) differ from their interactions with patients with other chronic disorders. The objective of the study described here was to explore the interaction strategies of internists when communicating with patients with medically unexplained symptoms (MUS) as opposed to patients with medically explained symptoms (MES).