Lesson 41: Death and Dying


Attention

Why do I feel the need to insert humor into a discussion of death?


Learning Outcomes

Upon completion of this lesson's material, students will be able to:

  • Identify the sociocultural, legal, and medical definitions of death
  • Differentiate between Living Wills, POA, and Durable POA
  • Reflect on your own death by writing your obituary
  • Describe the stages of dying as described by Kubler-Ross

Teaching

The study of Death and Dying is called Thanatology

Sociocultural Definition of Death

First and foremost death is a sociocultural event...it is, in the words of anthropologists, a "cultural universal". ALL cultures at ALL times have had perspectives and rituals about death. Consider the following perspectives and the creative use of language to describe death:

Death as an Image or Object

  • A flag at half staff
  • Sympathy cards
  • Tombstones
  • Black crepe paper
  • Monuments

Death as an Event

  • Funeral
  • Family gathering
  • Memorial service
  • Viewing or wake

Death as a Statistic

  • Mortality rates
  • Number of AIDS patients who die
  • Murder and suicide rates
  • Life expectancy tables

Death as a State of Being

  • Time of waiting
  • Nothingness
  • Passing on
  • Going home

Legal/Medical Definitions of Death

  • Clinical death
  • Whole-brain death

Declaring someone "dead"

  • No spontaneous movement in response to stimuli
  • No spontaneous respirations for at least 1 hour
  • Total lack of responsiveness to even the most painful stimuli
  • No eye movements, blinking or pupil responses
  • No postural activity, swallowing, yawning, or vocalizing
  • No motor reflexes
  • A flat EEG for at least 10 minutes
  • No change when re-assessed in 24-hours

Ethical Issues

  • Quality of life
  • Persistent vegetative state
  • Euthanasia (active and passive)
  • Physician Assisted Suicide

Making your Intentions Known

  • Living Wills
  • Power of Attorney
  • Durable Power of Attorney
  • DNR Orders
  • End of Life Issues: management of estate, disposition of body, funeral arrangements, etc.

Death is Personal

  • We all have perspectives, hopes, dreams, beliefs related to our own death
  • See the Obituary activity below!

Stages of Death (Kubler-Ross)

  • Denial
  • Anger
  • Bargaining
  • Depression
  • Acceptance

Not really "stages" but emotional states that someone can feel when they are dealing with death.


Assessment

Lesson 41 Quiz

Write your Obituary as if you were going to die TODAY (not some time in the future)

  • Think of the things that you will not get to do.
  • Think of the people in your life and how they will do without you.
  • In 200 words or less, write your own obituary. Be sure to include your age and cause of death. List your lifetime accomplishments. Don't forget to list your survivors.

For an example obituary click HERE to view the obituary that was written for my dad in 2010.

In the quiz itself...answer the following questions:

  1. Write your your obituary here
  2. Reflect on the process of writing this obituary. How did thinking about what you are not going to get to do, see, or how others will be effected impact you? Why might it be good to remind ourselves of our mortality once in a while?