Death, Dying, and Bereavement

Question 1

How do adolescents’ understandings of death differ from children’s?

Answer 1

Adolescents understand the finality of death better and recognize it as inevitable.

Question 2

What unrealistic beliefs about death can contribute to adolescent suicide?

Answer 2

Beliefs such as death being a pleasurable experience.

Question 3

What is unique invulnerability in early adulthood?

Answer 3

The belief that bad things, including death, happen only to others.

Question 4

How does the sudden loss of a loved one affect young adults’ beliefs?

Answer 4

It shakes their belief in unique invulnerability, often resulting in trauma.

Question 5

What changes occur in middle-aged individuals’ perception of time regarding death?

Answer 5

They switch from thinking about ‘time since birth’ to ‘time until death’.

Question 6

What is the most pervasive meaning of death for adults?

Answer 6

Loss.

Question 7

What do young adults fear losing the most when someone dies?

Answer 7

Opportunities to experience things and family relationships.

Question 8

What are the six existential uncertainties that contribute to the fear of death?

Answer 8

• The finality of death * The uncertainty of what follows * Annihilation anxiety * The ultimate loss * Fear of pain and loneliness in dying * Fear of failing to complete life work.

Question 9

Which age group is most fearful of death?

Answer 9

Middle-aged adults.

Question 10

What happens to older adults’ anxiety about death as they age?

Answer 10

They accept the inevitability of death and focus anxieties on the process of dying.

Question 11

What is the widowhood effect?

Answer 11

A substantial rise in mortality for both men and women following the death of a spouse.

Question 12

What is the percentage increase in the risk of death for widows and widowers during the first three months of bereavement?

Answer 12

30 to 90%.

Question 13

What is the role of the ‘talk-it-out’ approach in managing grief?

Answer 13

It can help prevent grief-related depression.

Question 14

What do preschool-age children not understand about death?

Answer 14

• Death is irreversible * It comes to everyone * It means a cessation of all function.

Question 15

What is the importance of hospice palliative care?

Answer 15

It emphasizes individual and family control of the dying process.

Question 16

What does palliative care focus on?

Answer 16

Relieving patients’ pain rather than curing diseases.

Question 17

What is the purpose of hospice palliative care?

Answer 17

To address physical, psychological, social, spiritual, and practical issues for dying patients and their families.

Question 18

What does the hospice care philosophy state about death?

Answer 18

Death should be viewed as normal, and patients and families should prepare for it.

Question 19

What is prolonged grief disorder?

Answer 19

Grief symptoms lasting more than two months following the loss of a loved one.

Question 20

What psychological stages of dying did Kübler-Ross propose?

Answer 20

• Denial * Anger * Bargaining * Depression * Acceptance.

Question 21

What are some common preparations adults make for death?

Answer 21

• Obtaining life insurance * Making a will * Advance funeral planning.

Question 22

How does personal worth affect fear of death?

Answer 22

Adults have less fear of death if they believe they have accomplished their goals.

Question 23

What is the relationship between religious beliefs and fear of death?

Answer 23

Both deeply religious and irreligious individuals report less fear of death.

Question 24

What is the impact of widowhood on physical health?

Answer 24

Immune system functions are suppressed immediately after the death.

Question 25

What unique responses do survivors experience after a suicide?

Answer 25

* Feelings of rejection and anger * Belief they could have prevented it * Less likely to discuss the loss.

Question 26

What are the stages of dying according to Kübler-Ross?

Answer 26

1. Denial 2. Anger 3. Bargaining 4. Depression 5. Acceptance ## Footnote These stages may vary and not all patients experience them in the same order.

Question 27

How does religious belief impact fears of death?

Answer 27

Religious beliefs may moderate fears of death by viewing it as a transition from one form of life to another.

Question 28

What is the relationship between age and belief in God?

Answer 28

The belief that God exists increases with age; the belief in life after death decreases with age.

Question 29

What characterizes the depression stage in Kübler-Ross’s model?

Answer 29

The patient sinks into depression when bargaining fails as a result of declining physical status.

Question 30

What does acceptance in Kübler-Ross’s model signify?

Answer 30

Acceptance is viewed as a necessary preparation for death after grieving for all that will be lost.

Question 31

What changes occur in individuals nearer to death?

Answer 31

They become increasingly more conventional, docile, dependent, and non-introspective.

Question 32

What psychological traits may signal terminal decline in seniors?

Answer 32

Increasing neuroticism and declining conscientiousness.

Question 33

What pattern of life satisfaction is observed prior to death?

Answer 33

Sharp declines in life satisfaction commence in the four years prior to death.

Question 34

What is a sudden drop in crystallized intellectual ability indicative of?

Answer 34

It seems to signal that death is imminent.

Question 35

What criticisms exist regarding Kübler-Ross’s stages of dying?

Answer 35

The actual stages and their order have been questioned; not all patients exhibit these five emotions.

Question 36

What alternative view does Schneiderman suggest regarding the dying process?

Answer 36

He suggests 'themes' to the dying process, rather than stages.

Question 37

What four tasks does Corr suggest for the dying person?

Answer 37

1. Task of accepting reality of death 2. Task of working through feelings 3. Task of saying goodbye 4. Task of making sense of the experience.

Question 38

How does the mode of death affect the grief process?

Answer 38

It contributes significantly; for example, sudden and violent deaths evoke more intense grief responses.

Question 39

How do children express grief?

Answer 39

Through sad facial expressions, crying, loss of appetite, and age-appropriate displays of anger.

Question 40

What role do funerals play in the grief process for children?

Answer 40

Funerals serve the same adaptive function for children as for adults and help them resolve grief.

Question 41

What psychological functions do death rituals serve?

Answer 41

1. Help manage grief 2. Strengthen family ties 3. Provide meaning to death 4. Offer transcendent meaning to death.

Question 42

What is the impact of knowing a loved one is ill on children?

Answer 42

It helps them cope with the loss in advance.

Question 43

What is the effect of psychological self-help on cancer patients' survival?

Answer 43

Patients most engaged in self-help lived much longer than those least engaged.

Question 44

True or False: Those whose initial reaction to a cancer diagnosis was fighting spirit were less likely to die of cancer.

Answer 44

True.

Question 45

Fill in the blank: A death ritual is only the first step in the process of _______.

Answer 45

grieving.

Question 46

What is the relationship between the involvement in self-help and survival rates?

Answer 46

Higher involvement in self-help correlates with longer survival rates.