Week Seven Blog Post by Miles O'Brien

Week Seven Blog Post

In chapter 12 we studied death and the spiritual role it plays in our lives. There are four types of death recognizable in todays medical field. Clinical death, physically speaking, is when an individual breathing has stopped, or their heartbeat has stopped. Brain death is the failure of the brain to receive a stuffiest amount of oxygen for a time of 8 to 10 minutes. This is considered to be a irreversible coma. In the chapter we also examine biological death which occurs when there is no observable electric pulse going to the heart and lungs. This causes all bodily functions to cease working. Page 282 discusses how researcher, David Sudnow was the first person to conceptualize the idea of social death, which suggests a person is physically still alive but is seen as dead to society. This brings up the legality of what death actually is. In 1968, the Harvard Ad Hoc Committee to Examine the Criteria of Brian Death stated, “unreceptivity and unresponsive, no movements or breathing, no reflexes, and a flat EEG reading that remains flat for 24 hours,” was considered to be legal death. Being able to connect death to the course is a very dismal topic but it is inevitable in life. Death can occur at any stage in someone’s life. From conception to old age, death is a natural part of life. Understanding that at any point my life can come to an end is why I try to live it to the fullest. I do this through impacting others and loving all people that come to my life. Knowing that nothing is guaranteed is the most bittersweet feeling to have when reflecting on life and how much you’ve developed. Grieving is one of the hardest aspects of death. Not knowing how to deal with your emotions is a very overwhelming idea. An intense weight on your heart with the indescribable amount of uncertainty is what grief feels like. In the moment it doesn’t feel healthy, but psychologist argue that it is a essential aspect of cooping. Anticipatory grief is the preparation of knowing that death is around the corner for one of your loved ones. Delayed grief can happen when someone is denial of the situation. Dealing with ones own death was deeply studied by psychiatrist Elisabeth Kubler-Ross. She introduce a five step process for dealing with your own death. Figure 12.3 outlines the five as: Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression, and Acceptance. I found bargaining to be a very dismal passage onto the next life. One will begin to try delaying the process or try to make exchanges for such actions as described on page 288. With death also comes spirituality. Many psychologists have proposed different ideas around the issues affecting the spirit or the soul.  Lung offers ideas for what happens during the first and second half of life. Frankl’s offers three dimensions for which the body lives and finally Wilson who believed in religious spirituality.