Death and bereavement
Death and bereavementDEATH AND BEREAVEMENT
This essay examines death, bereavement, and the disposal of the dead through its social-psychological, historical, cross cultural, medical-ethical, and public policy aspects from the perspective of both the dying person and survivors. In its examination this course divided death and bereavement into the following five concepts and theories: 1) The stages of death and bereavement as outlined by Kubler-Ross. 2) Social implications, norms, and institutions that relate to death and dying in our society, i.e., Western attitudes toward death, historically and in contemporary times. 3) Cross-cultural, subcultural, ethnicity, and religious differences in dealing with death, bereavement, and disposal. 4) Medical-ethical issues such as the right to die, euthanasia, medical intervention, life support, organ donation, hospice, living wills, and disposal of the dead. 5) Financial and legal aspects of death and dying. My first close encounter with death was when I was seven years old. I traveled with my mother to visit with my maternal grandfather. He was my only living grandparent and it was the first time I had met him. I can remember that he looked old and pale and had a shock of white hair. While he knew who I was, he was somewhat confused as he kept referring to me by my mother's name. Although, he did not appear to be in pain, he had recently suffered a massive heart attack and was not expected to last much longer. My mother's childhood home was filled with relatives and family friends, but for me it was a strange atmosphere. I had not previously met many of my relatives and it had been several years since my mother had been home. People were constantly stopping by with food dishes and there was always a pot of tea brewing. The local priest was also a constant visitor and seemed to be pleased that so many of the family had made it back for my grandfather's last days. There wasn't an air of expectancy, but rather a quite acknowledgment that his time had come. My grandfather had been released from the hospital, because they could do nothing more for him. He knew he was going to die and it was his wish that he die at home, amongst family and friends. I often wonder if he would have had that choice today. My relatives took turns sitting with him and spent hours just holding his hand and talking to him softly. While I can see now that it must have been comforting for him to die surrounded by his family, it gave me the "creeps" to know that I was in the same house with someone who was going to die. I can remember praying that I would not be in the room when he passed on. I wasn't, he died in his sleep and I heard...
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