People's Perceptions of Death

PEOPLE'S PERCEPTIONS OF DEATH
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PEOPLE'S PERCEPTIONS OF DEATH
Introduction
Death has always been quite a controversial part of human life. It continues to be an inevitable,yet feared occurrence for people. It has garnered so many notions as human beings continue finding ways of dealing or coming to terms with it. Still, nobody really seems to have learnt how to deal with death. Making efforts to understand death has called for a combined approach of all the fields, such as philosophy, psychology and religion. Across The world,peoplehave formed cultural and religious practices that they perform during and after death, with the aim of achieving closure and trying to deal with its mystery. There might be a difference in the manner that individuals deal with death, considering that each individual has different experiences. This paper addresses death,looking at the natural and schorlaly efforts that have been made in trying to understand and deal with death, such as the stages of grief as wellas recovery.
Americans Avoidance of Death and Dying
Death is a difficult topic for any individual to discuss. Sometimes no one expects to die but these things happen without anyone’s knowledge. Views related to death are shaped by religion. For example, Christians believe in after life and this makes it easy for them to cope with death. Young people portray more death anxiety compared to old people. Sometimes they might feel it is unfair considering the fact that they have not lived longer or fully. They go through stages of denial, anger, and acceptance as the final stage. This is different from old people who have had several experiences of death. For example, they might have lost their relatives or friends.
Just like other typical human beings, Americans are a death-denying society that never embraces thinking about, talking about or accepting death as an unavoidable reality. However, everyone understands that someday, they will die. It is an uncomfortable topic that elicits different views in the American society.Hospice services are usually offered to the terminally ill. Most people learn about hospice services at the very last stages of their loved ones' lives (Van Der Steen et al., 2017). Nevertheless, hospice services and palliative care are constantly convenient even at the start of disease diagnosis and the time limit of stay in the hospice care is about six months. According to Pranaitytė-Wergin (2012), humans have rituals and practices each day showing that they are death-denying subjects, such as wearing seat belts, watching diet or exercising regularly. Society uses idiomatic expressions that avoid referring directly to death, such as "six feet under" or "he/she passed away."
Research Findings Regarding Perceptions of Death from Birth to 12 years of age.
Researchers hold different perceptions about the death of children aged from birth to 12 years. According to Gaab et al. (2013), every child holds their belief related to death based on past experiences, age, emotional development, and surrounding environment. Cartoons, movies, video games and books drive children's perceptions about death. Children in the early stages of growth are still babies and do not understand the concept of death but may react by crying or feeling emotionally low when they seem distracted. Toddlers may not understand the connection between life and death, and they may never seem to understand whether death is or is not permanent.
Preschool-age children also lack full knowledge about death, but they feel shame and guilt when people around feel sorrow and sadness (Krepia, Krepia & Tsilingiri, 2017). They do not understand that death is permanent and never comprehend what causes death. Children who have attained school-age have a more realistic view of death and now understand that the death act is permanent (Mouratidi et al., 2016). Therefore, children at the age of 12 seem to fear death as they do not understand what will happen to them after they die. They tend to also fear death because of the fear of never seeing their loved ones again.
Examining the death taboo with respect to elderly.
As initially noted, death is always a taboo topic in American society. It is often seen as a failure from the doctor’s side rather than an inevitable process for people. According to Pranaitytė-Wergin (2012), society's belief about death originates from culture, real-life experience, medical condition, age, and socioeconomic influence on the elderly population. The elderly have mostly attained a phase of life that is different from other groups in society, and older people are fearless about death and accept death easier than the young ones. As initiallynoted, the elderlyusually seemprepared for death,given that they have already experienced it severaltimes amongst their peers.
The Five Stages of the Dying Process, as Described by Kubler-Ross’s Stages of the Dying Process.
Denial is the initial stage in the Kubler-Ross model. People deny the emotional response to imminent death in future life and serve as a defence mechanism. According to Kubler-Ross, denial helps ease anxiety and fearful thoughts (Pranaitytė-Wergin, 2012). The denial stage is a positive strategy for patients that allows them to live without fear, even when diagnosed with a terminal disease such as cancer. Denial occurs to the patient alone and family members and friends. Second is anger. Anger is a stage that follows when people accept the diagnosis is correct about the disease. People may experience feelings of rage probably projected towards others. Many patients may ask, "Why me?" However, patients need more support and care from healthcare practitioners and loved ones at this stage rather than avoiding patients' anger with avoidance or returned anger.
Kubler-Ross identifies the third stage as bargaining as the dying person could battle with healthcare professionals, family, and even God. During this stage, the patient attempts to bargain for a cure, less pain or spending more time with the loved ones. Fourthly, depression is when death is near, and there is nothing a person can do to evade it. The patients start to grieve about what they can no longer do, such as walking and being independent;or a forthcoming irreversible separation from their loved ones (Pranaitytė-Wergin, 2012). Acceptance marks the final stage of death, but it does not mean that the patients have accepted leaving their loved ones. The patients agree with the virtual reality of their lives.
What is Considered to be an “appropriate death”?
Appropriate death is a way of ending life according to the patient's wishes agreed to and signed by a physician that gives a proper directive of the advance decision and physician's order. Despite the topic being uncomfortable for the patient or family, researchers find it necessary to raise concerns and wishes and pay attention to the patient's choices. According to Lan et al. (2017), it is possible to have a formal arrangement to prompt patients to choose their death by sharing the information with someone close. As it can be seen therefore,appropriate deathisnt reallysomething that is openly agreed upon by everyone, but one that everyone sees as a necessary step to take.
Hospice
For a long time, death resulted from medical failure implying that physicians have limited efforts to assist the dying person. Physicians should accept this as being contrary, as it is true. Some patients and families never accept death when they take their loved ones as they blame healthcare practitioners. Physicians should take the responsibility of sen...