Discussion on Death - Essay Example

? Death and Dying Death and Dying Question The most obvious fact of human existence is that because we live, so we must die s nature dictates. However, the discussion on death and dying is not so acceptable among many humans and identify with the idea that they will once die. As such, death and dying have been an underlying issue in science, religion, and fear. Most assuredly, death and dying are stressful aspects to the dying people, the caregivers who have a mandate to prevent humans from dying, and the families of the dying people (American Psychological Association, 2013). The film Grief Walker by Tim Wilson and produced in 2008, seeks to discuss death and dying. Indeed, the film analysis the dynamics of death by addressing about Stephen Jenkinson who had a responsibility to ensure people continue living (Wilson, 2008). Indeed, the result of a fractious gallbladder that almost culminated to death, changed Tim Wilson’s perception of death and dying. It is true that death will come to us and humans can talk about it as a concept but develops a phobia when talking about dying in reality. The film Grief Walker analyses our fear of dying. Indeed, the film lyrically and poetically depicts the life of Stephen Jenkinson in working with dying people. The film shows Wilson recovering from a coma and life support and returning to his normal life. However, he was surprised when Jenkinson sought to know what made Wilson think that he deserved his normal life. The movie portrays human phobia on death and the film drives us to a meditation on our feelings about death as we watch Jenkinson advice people on death and dying (Wilson, 2008). Actually, we see Jenkinson advising a woman with terminal cancer and a husband and wife whose daughter had to die, as nothing would prevent her death. Jenkinson performs subsequent blood transfusions to prolong her life. Jenkinson informs his patients on the existence of death phobia in the society but advices them to prepare for death and dying because they are inevitable. He laments that only acceptance can help us live better lives and observes that the Western culture's deep denial of death is irrelevant. He further tells his dying patients that it is our responsibility to ensure a fitting death (Wilson, 2008). However, he accepts that death is a challenging concept to all human beings and the relationship between life and death is a surprising reality. More so, unlike most of us, Jenkinson explains that it is not human to fear death and the sooner we accept its reality the better it is for our lives. However, this has not been easy with Western cultures even avoiding its reality by taking measures to prolong death and dying. Nevertheless, psychologists can help the society to deal with death and dying by offering end-of-life counseling, assessing the mental functioning and pain of the dying and their families, treat depression, and advocating good medical care (American Psychological Association, 2013). Indeed, death and dying are synonymous with human beings and any debate about them is surprising. Individuals suffer much distress on realizing they might die, families mourn on the reality that their relatives will die, and the general society fears death. Ideally, death forms part of our natural existence and thus denying it is like demeaning our life. Question 2 Every human being especially those bereaved has a right to grieve when need arises. Ideally, there is no standard way of grieving and thus the bereaved person can grieve in any way they chooses, when they need to , and with no interference of this right (Attig, 2004). As such, we should respect others right of grieving and refrain from interfering with their grieving. However, there exists a unique form of grief called disenfranchised grief. Disenfranchised grief refers to the pain that a bereaved person feels upon the loss of something or somebody that the societal concepts, misunderstandings, and prejudice offer no room for grief (Attig, 2004). In this case, bereaved persons grieve alone and consequently suffer a lot as family, friends, or loved ones fail to identify with the bereaved person’s grief. Professional counseling is recommendable in cases of disenfranchised grief. Notably, there are various types of disenfranchised grief in my society. Indeed, disenfranchised grief can occur where the bereaved person is mourning the death or relationship with a person that the grieving party's family and friends did not know or approve (Attig, 2004). Moreover, disenfranchised grief can also occur when the bereaved person is grieving a person who died from unsupported causes of death like suicide, alcoholism, AIDS, or intentional drug overdose. In addition, disenfranchised grief also emanates when the bereaved person receives critic of seemingly mourning for too long, or showing a negative attitude during grieving. At the same time, when the bereaved person is mourning the loss of something and not somebody, this may lead to disenfranchised grief. In fact, loss of beloved animals, health losses, unfulfilled dreams, failed marriage, or financial loss will leave the bereaved person grieving alone. More so, the grief of a parent after giving up a child for adoption or when a person is prone for adoption leads to disenfranchised grief as the society do not identify with this grief. However, the most common source of disenfranchised grief is when a woman aborts or undergoes a miscarriage. In abortion, the society assumes that the woman and the responsible do not feel sad and move on quickly. As such, these people mostly suffer alone as the society does not appreciate their suffering. Additionally, in a miscarriage, the society expects the woman who had lost the baby to move on quickly, as the baby was even not born. However, this assumption is mostly wrong as the woman suffers emotional pain and thus grieves alone. Similarly, when a patient dies in the hands of a caregiver, the latter rarely grieves, as they did not know the patient and thus the family members and friends suffer disenfranchised grief from this perspective. Actually, in various occasions I have experienced disenfranchised grief. In fact, over the summer holidays my partner and I broke up. As such, while I was grieving the loss of that intimate relationship, my family and friends did not identify with my suffering and thus I experienced disenfranchised grief. More so, during Christmas I lost a significant amount of money in a betting game. In this case, my parents, relatives, and friends would not associate with my financial loss. As such, I experienced disenfranchised grief as I suffered alone for the entire Christmas period. Question 3 The artistic talent among children lives on during their dying time and even during their time of grieving. As such, there is a possibly for the children to draw images before or during their time as well as after being bereaved. Art images created by dying and bereaved children are subject for display or publication. In this case, there are different ethical concerns that may arise. Most assuredly, children use artwork as a form of non-verbal expression where they express their conscious and unconscious feelings to the audience. As such, use of such art image swill generate ethical concerns like the developmental stages of the children’s drawing, and the most applicable approach to the art images. Moreover, we should also consider the aspect of the storage and ownership of the images. This will ensure that we remain compliant to rules that govern the storage and ownership of art images. In addition, we should consider the ethical issue of consent and confidentiality. Indeed, we should get the requisite authorization before displaying or publishing the images. This will ensure respect to patent rights, privacy, and confidentiality of the images and the children. Ultimately, we should realize that dying and bereaved children reserve the ownership, storage, and patent rights of the art images. Thus, we should not mistreat or misuse, or use their art images without following the ethical procedures. In this context, I will address one of the images on the website we viewed in class and reflect on it in the context of the course. The image of consideration is the Terezin image by 10 years old Liana Franklova. The young child titled the image as “Everyone was hungry.” The Terezin also known as the “Lobby of the hell” was the Nazi concentration camp situated at Prague’s outskirts. However, despite the young age of the artist, the image has excellent quality, suitable tone, and color, and is clear for analysis. Ideally, the Terezin was the last place that more than 150.000 Jews and 15,000 kids and pre-teenagers stopped (Kurioso, 2011). As such, this image reflects the children’s experience at the “Lobby of the hell” through art. Indeed, the image manifests the life at the concentration camp and the sad and horrible experience that children went through. Nevertheless, the image depicts hope and peace. Moreover, there is consistent use of imagination in the image and the children’s anticipation for freedom is quite clear in the image. Indeed, the image demonstrates them coming home with desires and hope for the ultimate freedom. Nevertheless, despite the resounding hope for freedom and survival that the image portrays, only 100 of the 15, 000 children survived Terezin thus depicting the harshness of the living conditions at the “Lobby of the hell” (Kurioso, 2011). Indeed, the image shows them lining up for what seems to be food which relates to the title that, “Everyone was hungry.” Most likely, hunger led to the death of most of the children in Terezin. More so, the bareness of the ground as shown in the image, the reference of Terezin as the “Lobby of the hell,” and the title of the image as “Everyone was hungry” demonstrates the hardships in this camp (Kurioso, 2011). As such, the author successfully passed the intended message. Question 4 Ideally, euthanasia refers to the actual doing of deliberately terminating the life of a person for purposes of relieving suffering via lethal injection or the suspension of medical treatment. Actually, this manifests when a doctor gives an overdose to a terminal cancer patient with a view of ending their life. Notably, in euthanasia the physician performs the intervention that leads to the death of a patient. The Physician-Assisted dying refers to the act where a physician intentionally provides a person with an overdose of prescription to aid in terminating the life of the person. Notably, the physician provides the information and the means but the patient performs the act that leads to death. Assuredly, the debate about the morality, ethics, and legalization of euthanasia and physician-assisted dying with an aim of ending the suffering of a patient has been going on for a long time. Indeed, this debate is equally important in the modern times as I feel that physicians continue receiving request for physician-assisted dying. However, in most countries, both euthanasia and assisted suicide are illegal. Nevertheless, there has been numerous attempts and success to legalize euthanasia and assisted suicide. Personally, I feel that we should establish a balance between the wish and rights of the patients on one side and the professionalism of the physicians on the other side in addressing euthanasia and assisted suicide. Indeed, if in a conscious mind and in case of a terminal disease, a patient seeks the help of a physician to terminate their life, a physician should consider granting that wish. After all, the terminal disease only adds suffering, accumulates huge medical costs, and ultimately leading to death. However, such a grant should come with consent from the patient and legal witness to avoid future legal liabilities. Indeed, where the right of an ailing patient supersedes the professionalism notion of the physician, the patient should have their request granted. Nevertheless, physicians should never grant the wish in cases of non-voluntary euthanasia and involuntary euthanasia. More so, I feel there are better ways of approaching terminal suffering like upholding the right to refuse medical treatment where the patient has the capacity to do so. Among the various legal proceedings that sought to address the issue of euthanasia and assisted suicide is the recent Gloria Taylor case where the plaintiffs Ms. Taylor and others challenged laws against physician-assisted deaths. Ms. Gloria Taylor sought the right to have a doctor’s help when she decided it was time to end her life. Ms. Taylor was a terminally ill 63-year-old woman from Kelowna B.C., who was suffering from ALS, or Lou Gehrig's disease. The case drew wide attention all over the world and specifically Canada as it related to doctor’s professionalism, patient’s rights, and other jurisdictions that allowed physician-assisted deaths. Ms. Taylor explained why she was seeking the right to end her life, identifying loss of independence, accrued medical costs, and wastefulness as the main reasons (Carter v. Canada, 2012). She even referred to other case laws that challenged physician-assisted deaths at the Supreme Court of Canada to no success. On June 2012, the B.C. Supreme Court granted Ms. Taylor a personal exemption that would have allowed her the right to seek a physician-assisted death after quoting the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which protected physician-assisted deaths (Carter v. Canada, 2012). This decision will affect Canada's current ban on assisted dying. Indeed, the ruling undermines and contradicts the ban and is thus likely to face amendment. Nevertheless, the federal government appealed the ruling and although the B.C. Appeal Court upheld the exemption, it retained the ban on euthanasia and assisted suicide in Canada. Question 5 In the film, "The Language We Cry In" the below image stayed with me and touched me deeply. (Source: Toepke and Serrano, 2013) The 53 minutes film cast in Sierra Leone depicts how African Americans maintained powerful links including cultures to their African past. Seemingly, the “crying” in the title signifies spiritual crying that depicts family ties. Moreover, this derives a quest for more knowledge of the African culture and art. Actually, identifies with the story of the Mende funeral song. Women performed the Mende funeral song as they pound rice into flour to sacrifice to the dead. In the meantime, the men prepare the grave at the cemetery. This song passes from one generation to another just as manifested in the film, "The Language We Cry In." The issue of traditions and death suffice in the song as women claim that the spirit of the dead person should rest in peace, that we should respect the dead, and portrays the horror of death (Opala. n.y). References American Psychological Association. (2013). Death & dying. Retrieved from: http://www.apa.org/topics/death/ Attig, T. (2004). Disenfranchised grief revisited discounting hope and love. Omega, 49 (3) 197-215. Retrieved from: http://www.ualberta.ca/~jennyy/PDFs/14022506.pdf Carter v. Canada. (2012). In the Supreme Court of British Columbia. Retrieved from: http://www.cbc.ca/fifth/media/episodes/2012-2013/thelifeanddeathofgloriataylor/pdfs/Carter-v-Canada-AG-2012-BCSC-886.pdf Kurioso. (2011). The kids who lived and drew the Holocaust. Retrieved from: http://kurioso.es/english-2/the-kids-who-lived-and-drew-the-holocaust/ Opala, J. (n.y). A Gullah Song in Mende. Retrieved from: http://www.yale.edu/glc/gullah/11.htm Wilson, T. (2008). Grief walker. Retrieved from: http://www.nfb.ca/film/griefwalker Read More

 

Read More