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: 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: How 'death phobia' contributes to xenophobia
In this column, I write about the relationship between an ever-increasing xenophobia, fear of the "other," and human violence as terrorism and war, to what happens when individuals are reminded of their own mortality. While this is not an academic paper, I do draw upon... Read more. #DeborahAlecson #xenophobia #ErnestBecker #TerrorManagementTheory #deathphobia #materialism #mortality #status #deathanxiety #911 #meltingpot
Musings on Mortality: Patient-centered care feeds death phobia
IIan Morrison, Ph.D., starts a piece that he has written for the online newsletter Hospitals & Health Network (March 3, 2015) as follows: "As a Scottish-Canadian-Californian, I have always said that I have a unique perspective on health care and all things to do with health care, including... Read more. #patientcenteredcare #deathphobia #DeborahAlecson #deathanddying #IanMorrisonPhD #healthcare #Medicare #autonomy
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