Discussion Questions for Death and Dying - Coursework Example

? Questions about Death and Living Q People are able to make a significant meaning out of death in the contemporary world indifferent ways. The positive acceptance of death has enabled human beings to have great victories during times of warfare. This is because they accept death without fear and thereby developing a positive stance to the situation that cannot be controlled, otherwise their attitude could be fatal and would lead to defeat. It is believed that people who fight with the fear of losing their lives are not ready to sacrifice and there is no way they can help their nation win any significant warfare. The fear of death enables man to live good and comfortable lives without regrets in the future. Without death, human beings could have been very reckless and carefree and, thus, would do things, which are harmful to him and others. It is due to the fear of death that human beings are organized in in their actions so that they do not meet with the cruel hands of death. Since there is different perception of death, some tend to ignore it while other welcomes it as part of their cultural settings. The Africans are well known to accept death and hold big ceremonies when their beloved one dies because they believe that he is just somewhere watching them keenly. Through this, they take death as an important cultural aspect with positive outcomes when handled carefully because they even believe that they can talk with the dead in times of help and decision-making. Q.2 Death is believed by many to be the end of life on earth. Christians believe that it is the transition from the earthly mortal to heavenly being. Other religions also argue that when one dies, he transforms into another animal or human being and thus it is just a transition from one being to another. These various definitions of death make people to view the world form a different dimension. Those who believe that it is just a transition from one being to another are expected to live a different life form those who seen death as the end of life on earth in preparation for heavenly life. The belief that death is a transition from one being to another instils hope to those who believe in such idea so that they face death with less fear. Q.3 The systemic advantages of death come in various forms derived from divergent beliefs worldwide. Among the advantages of this system is that it creates a sense of transition from one generation to the next with many new things. What the ancestors done in the last century is very different to what is being practiced now. This therefore ensures that there are always developments, which come from one generation to the nest through a systemic transition. This system also ensures that people do their best once they are a live form the knowledge that death is inevitable in the end. This enables human beings to be very creative and development conscious so that they achieve their dreams within the short period of their lives. It also enables on to carefully plan his life so that he does not mess with it leading to premature death, which is not the wish of anyone. This system of death also enables people to believe in religion since its religion that tries to explain the mysterious events surrounding the death process. Christians have a proper way of explaining the death process and this enables its members to fully understand and appreciate it because they believe it a transition from the earthly being into heavenly being. Q.4 The claim that we are all dying from the onset of our lives is a harmful evasion of confronting the reality of actual death. Most people are not happy with death because they see it as a way of ending their good lives on earth. The fact that death comes abruptly without knowing the exact time when one dies also gives people a bitter reality of death and what it really entails. It enables people to live in fear because the tragic incidence of death leaves a lot of discomfort among the family members and finds when their loved one departs unexpectedly. The fact that all are dying is a difficult advice to take but only that there is no otherwise since science has not provided an alternative way to avoid death. Q.5 This is a special medical attention given to specific patient on demand of such medical attention. This includes 24-hour services under the watch of a physicist, pastoral leader and family members thus giving the patient the best he deserves. The physician must first establish that a patient has a life expectancy of six month or less for him to qualify for the services of the Hospice, which is a tricky situation for physicians. The family members of the patient cover their costs of expenses thus; it is not a cheap option on the side of the patient. It requires a strong relationship with a physician who is expected to do most of the medical care in this set up. Strong discussions are always needed on form all the involved parties so that all the issues are ironed out before the start of the exercise itself that is very complicated to all of them. Lack of successful discussion can seriously jeopardize the efforts of the family members who are in great demand for better health care for their beloved one. The barriers which are associated with entry always makes such medical care to be limited to only a few number of people who have money and are able to convince the medical staff of their readiness and willingness for such a practice. According to me, a terminally ill patient should be admitted to hospice treatment. This is because the benefits that come from this treatment are far much greater than other medical attention and this enables the patient to feel comfortable and taken care of. This situation leads to a patient having a good death without many problems since he will feel that he is loved and the best have been accorded to him during his time of need. For individuals who may not qualify for such services but need them should be accorded with some special attention in the design of the hospice care. This is possible since what the family members need is to have a physician and a nurse who may be there on part time basis for the patient and a pastoral counsellor. This may be properly designed in a home settings and the patient is likely to feel the same treatment got form those in hospice treatments thus making them happy and comfortable in the long run (Wright & Katz, 2007). Q.6 Donating the organs from a dead person can be medically to a different user successfully. This has generated a lot of debate concerning the ethics of such an issue, which are viewed by other as unhealthy medical act. Among the organs that are highly involved in transplant is the kidney due to high demand and the success by which it can be transplanted form one person to another. Such kidneys a successfully be incorporated into a sickly person bringing new and healthy life. Another organ, which is highly donated, is the skin since it can positively be removed form a dead person and be successfully incorporate into a dead person. According to me, such a practice should just be encouraged because it has ensured that more people who would otherwise have died because of different ailments continue to live for some time. The continuous life by a person into old age is always viewed by the society to be a positive thing and is thus welcomed. The main disadvantage of this organ transplant system is that quacks have penetrated into the practice to take organs form people who are alive in their desperate attempts to get money. Such a move is likely to jeopardize the good system, which has helped thousands of people extend their lifespan. Q.7 Most people always avoid conversation surrounding death leading to unplanned occurrences at the time of death. The biggest barrier to such conversation is always the fear of death itself as most people view death as a topic not necessary for discussion. This always lead to a lot of guessing which lead to conflicts in the long run concerning the death of a family member. Such problems always exist in matters of inheritance of family property especially if the deceased never left a will. Therefore, it is prudent for people to discuss death in a more positive way because it is that humans cannot avoid. Discussing death leads to preparedness of both the deceased and the family members in the end, such preparedness can help to avoid problems, which can arise due to preparedness such as shock and inheritance disputes, which are always fatal in the end. In order to counteract the barriers to this difficult question, the people should be made aware that the benefits of conversation about death outweigh the disadvantages and thus they would rather discuss it. Q.8 This is a method of ending the life of a patient through the help of a physician after successful agreement of all the concerned parties. This medical practice has many ethical issues, which have been debated for long time. The biggest challenge always comes when the patient himself accepts and demands for his life to be terminated due to adverse illness, which may not be cured. The moral expectations are always on the contrary of such a practice, as it is widely believed that death should occur naturally without assisted suicides or euthanasia. This practice sends a bad picture morally to the people concerning death and according to me; it should be avoided even when the patient demands. This is because the more this practice is encouraged, the more the patient who feels that they are tired with living will demand for such practice and this may cause unexpected deaths in great magnitude. This practice is also like to paint doctors in bad image, as they will not only be seen as lifesaver but also as life takers. This may negatively affect the credibility of many doctors and the confidence the patient may have for them which may in turn erode the good practice of medicine. Q.9 Grieving is viewed by most people as a way of removing the excess pain form the bitter truth arising from the death of a loved one. The bitter reality of the departure of a loved one always come with a lot of emotional pains due to the vacuum created by the departure of the loved one. Most of the people who grieve feel that it is a way of showing concern and respect to the deceased in a positive way. To those who believe in transition of life, grieving acts as a way of showing respect to the diseased since they believe that he is somewhere watching. Q.10 The life after death is more challenging topic by most scholars and different religions because there are various beliefs concerning the life after death. My idea about post death is based on the bible. As a Christian, I believe that life exists after death and that death is just the transition from the earthly being to heavenly being. I also believe that I will reunite with all my departed friends and family members in life after death. Am quite certain of my belief because they are based on the Christian bible and thus Christ cannot disappoint. Q.11 This is a state of emotional, mental and physical exhaustion which negatively affects someone way of life in a negative way. It sometimes results for one being overwhelmed resulting into inability to meet constant demands of life leading to loss of interest in almost everything he does. To avoid burnout, a person should not have many expectations more than he can achieve as this may likely to cause and worsen the situation of burnout. This calls for a person to set demands, which are achievable so that he increases his chances of achieving the thus avoiding burnout in the most effective way. To avoid burnout, a person should always be optimistic in his everyday encounters by viewing everyday as a good day with great benefits so that he gets the energy and motivation to face challenges that may exist. People should also love their work and if the work is boring and tiresome, then it is advisable for them to look for a work in which they are comfortable doing in order to avoid burnout. If on work, a person should also find some free time to spend with family and loved ones in order to avoid exhaustion. The free time can also be spent on nature walk or playing games, this enables him to rejuvenate himself thus avoid potential burnout that may exist. People often avoid preventing burnout because they often do not know that they are burning out in the first place. In order for them to effectively control burnout, they should be aware of what burn out is and its negative consequences so that they can develop strategies in avoiding it. A good example of a person undergoing burnout is the case of a worker who is paid on commission for the job done. Since he has a target of what he wants to achieve, he will work extremely hard for him to achieve his target. When he realizes that he is about to miss hi target, he adds more energy on work not realizing that he is initiating a burnout. In order to effectively deal with burnout, a person needs to recognize that he is about to burn out so that he can reverse the trend causing the burnout and, thus, build resilience to stress by taking care of both physical and emotional demands. Q.12 The greatest obstacle of dying patients always comes with the fact that they die under intense pain. Some of them are victims of fatal road accidents and, thus, have been in much pain during the process of death itself. Nobody would like to undergo pain and suffering but some life situations may induce pain and suffering that a person cannot control. When a person fears death, he will not be in a position to face death with any comfort. Such people are always very terrified when they realize that they are dying, which makes their death painful and hard for them, that, in turn, would otherwise have been avoided if he/she could have a positive attitude. People should be taught that death is inevitable and that they should not fear death in any way because fearing death only leads to one dying in the wrong, quite painful way. Sick people should also be given a lot of encouragement so that they face life positively in as much as they may be sick to avoid falling into the trap of miserable death. Reference Wright, A. A. & Katz, I. T. (2007). Letting go of the rope—aggressive treatment, hospice care, and open access. N Engl J Med 357:324–327. Read More