Midterm Flashcards
(110 cards)
Define thanatologist
Someone Who studies death dying and bereavement
Thanatology
Scientific study of death dying and bereavement
Define death and dying
Death-end of life (event)
Dying- process of getting dead (process)
Define bereavement
The state an individual is left in as a result of experiencing a loss (often through losing someone through death)
Thanatos
- Greek god of death(Greek for death )
- Freud’s term for the death instinct
Who first started talking about death?
Elisabeth Kubler Ross
- talked to people who were dying/terminally ill (seen as a big no no)
- she published books and people began following her
What is formal or planned death education?
Planned/organized instruction involving death-related topics
What is a death cafe
Cafe where people talk about death and eat coffee and cake
-objective to increase awareness of death and to help people make the most of their finite lives
What is informal or unplanned death education?
Death related education emerging from everyday experiences and exchanges
What are teachable moments ?
Unanticipated life events that offer important occasions for developing educational insights and lessons
-neither planned nor desired but generally moving and intimate
Ex. Children often learn about death when s pet or loved one dies
What are the four dimensions of death education? Know these
- Cognitive - facts and theories about death related experiences and issues
- Affective - feelings, emotions, and attitudes about death, dying and bereavement
- Behavioural - how people interact with dying and/or bereaved persons
- Valuational- the basic values governing people’s lives
Denial of death -Ernest Becker
Describes the modern death denying attitudes about death
-people shield themselves from it
Describes western, particularly North American, attitudes about death
What is death anxiety?
Fear of death or thanatophobia
-a feeling of dread, apprehension or anxiety when one thinks of the process of dying or what happens after death
What are some causes to why people feel anxious about dying ?
- unknown nature of what lies beyond this life
- we are all vulnerable to death
- inevitability of death
- pain and suffering while dying
- loss of control/losing ones independence
- dying alone
- fear of non existence/non-being
- worry of what will become of our loved ones
- death is not well understood
- media images of death are often terrifying
What are the 4 sub-scales on the Collett-Lester Fear of Death Scale?
- Fear of own death
- Your own dying
- The death of others
- The dying of others
What’s the relationship between death anxiety and gender?
Females typically report higher levels of death anxiety than males
(Maybe females are more open about their feelings about death/dying than males)
What’s the relationship between death anxiety and age?
Young adults tend to report higher levels of death anxiety than older adults. Tends to decrease with age
What’s the relationship between death anxiety and religion ?
People who are uncertain about their religious views (ie. those who have doubts or moderate religious beliefs) tend to report higher levels of death anxiety
What’s the relationship between death anxiety and self-esteem?
Individuals low in self-esteem report higher levels of death anxiety than those high in self esteem
What does it mean that death anxiety is situation-specific?
People with different situations/experiences will have different attitudes towards death
- If in good health maybe they’re less anxious
- if they’re in poor health maybe they’re more anxious
What is the general ancient perspective of death and dying
-death is a curse and not a natural outcome of life (Adam and eve lived in a perfect place with no death until they ate the fruit and their punishment was death)
What is our death system
The ideals, values, and practises that shape how we deal with death; our healthcare system, or laws and the funeral service industry
Describe the four facet model which suggests there are four fundamental dimensions of coping with dying
The physical facet-The physical dimensions of the living: bodily needs and physical distress. Material existence is experienced directly with the senses
the social facet-include human experience concerned with social relations: family, groups, communities, culture, social institutions and society itself including the death system (includes all of one’s relationships)
psychological facet-our thoughts feelings and the entirety of human subjective experience can inspire the imagination and desire to understand end-of-life issues
spirituality-dimension of life that reflects the need to find meaning or connectedness to universe greater than oneself, and a sense of transcendence
What is religion
A set of organize believes and practises about the supernatural: embraces the spiritual dimension