Woman obsessed with death...

I think most addictions are a symptom of having no coping skills. One of the things she has anxiety about and can't cope with is the death of those close to her, like her mother's death from emphysema, her cat's death and so on. Imagine an emotion so intense within you that you couldn't control and it scares you so absolutely because of that lack of control, you would do anything to soothe that right? Her morbid fascination is a way to to bring her emotions under control without having to cope like a normal, healthy adult and dealing with the core reason she is having these emotions. Her addiction will eventually fail to soothe her emotions anymore and she will either have to learn coping skills and deal with it or increase the intensity of her addiction, which given her addiction could lead to suicide.