There has been growing awareness of the importance of death anxiety (DA) in pathological anxiety. DA is defined as a persistent and unreasonable fear of death and thoughts, fears, and emotions associated with the end of life. DA has been suggested as a core fear that underpins the emergence and perseverance of numerous anxiety disorders. However, previous DA-based treatment studies focus on the elderly, the patients, or health professionals who care for the terminally ill. Therefore, there is a need to examine the effect of psychological interventions on DA and current disorder symptoms in a clinical sample through randomized controlled trials. The current study aims to develop a novel Religiously Integrated Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (RCBT)-based intervention on DA in individuals diagnosed with an anxiety disorder and to compare the effectiveness of RCBT-based intervention with classical CBT-based intervention.
Aged 18-65
A score of > 26 on the Turkish Death Anxiety Scale
Diagnosed with one of the anxiety disorders
Believing in life after death
Diagnosed with schizophrenia, schizophreniform disorder, schizoaffective disorder, and delusional disorder
Being in an active manic episode
Possessing a mental disorder that interferes with completing measures or understanding the exercises conducted during sessions
Extreme symptoms of depression (score of > 20 on the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9), and >1 on the item assessing suicidality)