Musings on Mortality: Good dying time results in good death
The very first module for my medical humanities course is called "Good Death: Oxymoron or Possibility?" A good death implies a good dying time leading up to death. The question is, can dying ever be good or is this unacceptable given it is, after all, dying — the end of life? Many of my... Read more. #DeborahAlecson #dying #deathphobia #stress #impermanence #fears #reassurance #permissiontodie
Musings on Mortality: Combat stress by embracing whatever brings joy
There is a term used in the field of thanatology called "mortality salience." It comes out of a theory called "Terror Management Theory" that American social psychologists proposed based on the brilliant work of the cultural anthropologist, Ernest Becker, presented in his 1974 Pulitzer... Read more. #DeborahAlecson #dying #deathphobia #anxiety #currentevents #mortalitysalience #stress
Musings on Mortality: Being open about death helps everyone
When death is in the house you feel the impermanence of life. When you feel the impermanence of life, you feel truth. When death is in the house, you have a keen sense of the present moment and it feels like wonder. When you are with a person in his dying time, there is little... Read more. #DeborahAlecson #dying #deathdenial #deathphobia #collectivefear #anxiety #currentevents
Musings on Mortality: Current events can escalate death phobia
It starts with the denial of death. We are pretty sure that we won't die anytime soon so we don't give it much thought. Why obsess over it? It will happen one day, but not today. So, we make decisions about our lives that do not include dying. As far as figuring out why we're alive in the... Read more. #DeborahAlecson #dying #deathdenial #deathphobia #collectivefear #anxiety #currentevents
Musings on Mortality: To die or not to die? The answer isn't so simple
"To be or not to be, that is the question," Hamlet articulates in Shakespeare's play "Hamlet." We can reword this question for those of us in the grip of the medical industrial complex: To die or not to die, that is the question. We have achieved the capacity to stave off death and we... Read more. #DeborahAlecson #death #thanatology #medicalindustrialcomplex #lungcancer #chemotherapy #terminallyill #healthinsurance #pancreaticcancer #dyingtime #oncologist
Thanatology and Poetry: A Conversation Between Deborah Golden Alecson and Thomas Fink
Thomas Fink: The thanatologist Deborah Golden Alecson is the author of Complicated Grief: A Collection of Poems (Finishing Line Press, 2014), We Are So Lightly Here: A Story About Conscious Dying (IntoPrint, Second Edition, 2014), Lost Lullaby (IntoPrint, Second Edition, 2014) and Alternative... Read more. #DeborahAlecson #ThomasFink #AutisticSpectrum #LostLullaby #WeAreSoLightlyHere #ConsciousDying #JohnDonne #thanatology #religion #deathwithdignity #deathphobic #deathanddyi
Musings on Mortality: Plan a dignified death on your own terms
Many people have expressed to me their desire for a dignified death for themselves and their loved ones. This is a challenge in a death-phobic culture where life at all costs (physically, emotionally and financially) is the norm. Too many of us know someone whose dying time was... Read more. #DeborahAlecson #thanatology #death #advanceddirectives #powerofattorney #healthcare #endoflife #TheFiveWishes #POLST #MOLST #terminallyill
Musings on Mortality: It's OK if grief creeps in during holidays
I was recently invited to speak at a Death Cafe in Kingston, N.Y., about grief and the holidays. The Death Cafe is a movement throughout the country where people come together of their own free will to talk about death, loss, end-of-life care, etc. These are not macabre gatherings and usually... Read more. #DeborahAlecson #thanatology #grief #holidays #death #loss #endoflifecare #Christmas
Musings on Mortality: Maybe if we celebrated death we wouldn't fear it
Mexicans really know how to have a good time when it comes to death. Their Dia de los Muertos, the Day of the Dead, celebrated on Nov. 1 and 2, is a time to party and honor ancestors. They entice their deceased loved ones with sumptuous foods and special activities to come out and play... Read more. #DeborahAlecson #thanatology #DiadelosMuertos #BerkshireEagle #DayoftheDead #calacas #calaveras #angelitos #Mezcal #Abrahamicreligions #Judaism #Christianity #Islam #AdamandEve #G
Musings on Mortality: Difference between suicide, medical aid in dying
There is a profound difference between suicide and medical aid in dying, otherwise known as death with dignity. It is not a matter of semantics. Read more. #DeborahAlecson #suicide #medicalaidindying #deathwithdignity #deathphobic #selflove #terminallyill
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