LS Chap. 19: Death, Dying, and Bereavement

When the transition from life to death is imminent, the person often moves through 3 phases: 1. Agonal phase. 2. Clinical death 3. Mortality

1. The agonal phase. The greek word avon means "struggle." Here agonal refers to gasps and muscle spasms during the first moments in which the regular heartbeat disintegrates 2. Clinical death. A short interval follows in which heartbeat, circulation, breathing, and brain functioning stop, but resuscitation is still possible. 3. Mortality. The individual passes into permanent death. Within a few hours, the newly lifeless being appears shrunken, not at all like the person he or she was when alive.

advance medical directive:

a written statement of desired medical treatment should they become incurably ill.

anticipatory grieving:

acknowledging that the loss is inevitable and preparing emotionally for it.

durable power of attorney for health care:

authorizes appointment of another person (usually, though not always, a family member) to make health-care decisions on one's behalf.

thanatology:

devoted to the study of death and dying.

voluntary active euthanasia:

doctors or others act directly, at a patient's request, to end suffering before a natural end to life.

According to a recent perspective, called the 'dual-process model of coping with loss':

effective coping requires people to oscillate between dealing with the emotional consequences of loss and attending to life changes, which - when handled successfully - have restorative, or healing, effects.

death anxiety:

fear and apprehension of death.

persistent vegetative state:

in which the cerebral cortex no longer registered electrical activity but the brain stem remained active.

grief:

intense physical and psychological distress

brain death:

irreversible cessation of all activity in the brain and the brain stem (which contras reflexes)

hospice:

is not a place but a comprehensive program of support services for terminally ill people and their families. it aims to provide a caring community sensitive to the dying person's needs so patients and family members can prepare for death in ways that are satisfying to them.

appropriate death:

is one that makes sense in terms of the individual's pattern of living and values and, at the same time, preserves or restores significant relationships and is as free of suffering as possible.

passive euthanasia:

life-sustaining treatment is withheld or withdrawn, permuting a patient to die naturally.

Forms of euthanasia

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living will:

people specify the treatments they do or do not want in case of a terminal illness, coma, or other near death situation.

palliative, or comfort, care:

relieves pain and other symptoms (nausea, breathing difficulties, insomnia, and depression) rather than prolonging life.

Mourning:

the culturally specified expression of the bereaved person's thoughts and feelings.

Bereavement:

the experience of losing a loved one by death.

Euthanasia:

the practice of ending the life of a person suffering from an incurable condition