Writing on the Subject of:

Three specific death fears that cause suffering:

Below are some of the specific problems that may cause the dying patient acute suffering and thus become a subject of therapeutic endeavors

The Unfulfilled Self. Any patient whose conscious thoughts revolve around his death is inclined to contemplate on his past life, trying to a count spiritually for his actions or lack of them.  If he believes his life to have been in failure, to have fallen short of self-fulfillment, he may be overcome by a painful feeling of frustration.

The "Tragic Guilt" feeling.  In some cases, in which a patient's mother was ill or died in childbirth, he may have unconsciously carried with him a guilt feeling throughout his life he himself may yearn for to as a punishment for his "guilt" -- an attitude (conscious or unconscious) which Flanders Dunbar calls being "half in love with death go to land."

Fear of Loss of Power.  One strongly pronounced component of the dying patient's fear of death may be the awareness of losing his power over his destiny.  The more dominant, the more aggressive the individual was in the past, the stronger will be his fear of death.  A rebel in life is a revel in death.  Just as he did not submit in life, so he does not yield in death without intensive struggle.  Conversely, the man who has always been submissive and humble, or was fatalistically resigned to the demands of living, is better prepared to face death, to give up his life with less of a fight and even with less fear.