

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: Patient privacy lost in new drug bill
It's a lot easier to pass a law that limits patient autonomy and physician paternalism than to truly address the problem at hand, one that is due, in part, to social inequality, not to the overprescribing of pain medication. I am writing about Bill H.4056, "An Act Relative to... Read more. #patientrights #patientautonomy #BillH4056 #substanceuse #GovernorCharlieBaker #pain #sleepdisorders #anxiety #depression #MAOnlinePMP #PrescriptionMonitoringProgram #HIPPA #mandatorydrugsc