Analytical Psychology and Existential Theology on Death Anxiety : Focusing on Analytical Psychologist Carl Jung and Existential Theologian Paul Tillich

Death anxiety is an integral part of being human. We have developed countless avoidance mechanisms against the anxiety. Jung concluded that neurotic anxieties were related with the aimlessness of life, and he resolved through religiosity. Theologian Tillich describes the cause of neurotic anxiety as the avoidance of non-existence by avoiding existence. The core of this anxiety is death anxiety, and the failure to face this anxiety leads to a dichotomy between life and death. All modern neurotic anxiety as the refusal to recognize death and life as two sides of the same coin, This paper examines Jung's and Tillich's theories of death anxiety and proposes a Christian counseling approach to overcoming death anxiety.