PSYCHOSOCIAL ASPECTS OF DEATH AND DYING

Spiritual aspects of death and dying.

Dying is an event beyond our comprehension, an experience that can only be imagined. Patients with cancer have a gift denied many others: some time to prepare for the approaching end of life. This time can be used to bring old conflicts to a close, to say goodbye and seek forgiveness from others, to express love and gratitude for the gifts of a life. Physicians can help patients by being aware ...

Couples facing death. I-Psychosocial aspects.

Forty-one couples facing the prospect of separation by death were followed up from the time of admission to a continuing care unit through death of the patient to an interview with the bereaved spouse. Half the patients were found to have anxiety or depression or both, usually as a result of failure to cope with specific difficulties. These fell into four groups: unsatisfactory communication, d...

Doctors, death and dying.

Death, dying, and domination.

This Article critiques conventional liberal arguments for the right to die on liberal grounds. It contends that these arguments do not go far enough to recognize and address private, and in particular structural, forms of domination. It presents an alternative that does, which is thus more respectful of true freedom in the context of death and dying, and also more consistent with liberalism. Af...

On Death and Dying

over death. This initial attitude contrasted with the gratitude of many dying people who were only too pleased to find that a doctor and a chaplain were willing to break through the web of their loneliness. Gradually more nurses, doctors and others contributed and, in turn, improved their own adjustment to this uneasy part of their vocation. The author uses extensive quotes from interviews reco...