Key terms

brain stem – ствол (головного) мозга

cortical areas – области коры головного мозга

death-avoiding society – общество, избегающее смерти

EEG (electroencephalogram) – электроэнцефалограмма

euphemistic language – эвфемистический (иносказательный) язык

funeral – похороны

intervention – вмешательство

life-prolonging equipment – приборы (оборудование), продлевающие жизнь

mourning – ['mנ:nıŋ] скорбь, печаль, оплакивание, плач, траур; скорбный, траурный

numbness – оцепенение, ступор, нечувствительность, неподвижность, окоченение

pining – тоска

removal of life support – устранение (искусственного) жизнеобеспечения (поддержания жизнедеятельности)

sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) – синдром внезапной детской смерти (СВДС)

thanatologist – танатолог (изучает закономерности умирания)

Most medical practitioners agree that a person must be brain dead to be declared dead. All electrical activity in the brain, as measured by an EEG, must have stopped in both the cortical areas of the brain and in the brain stem.

Euthanasia is the practice of assisting a terminally ill patient with his or her death. Active euthanasia involves intervention, passive euthanasia involves the removal of life support. Advances in technology have also made it difficult to know when to intervene and when not to intervene in the deaths of those who are or can be kept alive artificially.

Perceptions about death vary and reflect the diverse values of different cultures. For the most part, individuals are death avoiders and death deniers as indicated by such things as the use of euphemistic language for death and an emphasis on prolongation of biological life rather than emphasizing diminished human suffering.

Individuals of different ages die for different reasons. Infants may die of birth defects, sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), or from a failure to develop properly during the prenatal period. Children die from accidents and illnesses. Adolescents are more likely to die from suicides, homicides, and automobile accidents than children. Accidents and disease take young and middle-aged adults, and chronic illnesses are responsible for most of the deaths of older adults.

The ability to cope with death is dependent on developmental level. Most psychologists believe honesty is the best strategy for helping children cope with death.

There is no evidence that a special orientation toward death emerges in early adulthood. Not until middle age does death become a life issue. At this time fear of death is at its peak. An acceptance of death marks the later adulthood period. Attitudes about death may vary considerably among adults of any age.

Kilbler-Ross provided five stages of death: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. Not all individuals experience all the stages. Some people fight their death until the end. Denial can be adaptive or maladaptive, depending on the circumstance.

Most people, about 80 percent, die in a hospital or long-term care institution. Advantages of hospital deaths included the availability of professional care and life-prolonging equipment.

Most people would prefer to die at home but are afraid of the burden they will place on others, the lack of space, and the lack of professional care. Hospices are designed to let a person die without pain and with the best attitude possible. Their main goal is pain control and they strive for psychologically healthy deaths.

Most psychologists recommend an open and interactive exchange between a dying individual and significant others. Conversations with a dying individual should not dwell on pathology. Instead the focus should be on the dying person's strengths.

The people left behind after the death of a loved one are experiencing three stages of grief: shock, despair, and recovery. According to another author, the four dimensions of grief are numbness, pining, depression, and recovery.

The most important aspect of mourning in most cultures is the funeral.

Death education, usually done by thanatologists, may help an individual and a society come to grips with the issues surrounding dying and living. In many ways ours is still a death-avoiding society.