OBJECTIVE 11-8

Death and Dying

Death and DyingMost of us will suffer and cope with

the deaths of relatives and friends.

Usually, the most difficult separation is from one's spouse

- A loss suffered five times more women than men

Expected deaths are much more short-lived than sudden deaths,

such as the death of a child.

Grief is especially severe when the death of a loved one comes suddenly and before its

expected time on the social clock.

The normal range of reactions to a loved one's death is wider than most suppose.

- Some cultures encourage public weeping and wailing, others hide grief.

Those who express the strongest grief immediately do not purge their grief more quickly.For most people, bereavement therapy and other coping methods do little to help the adjustment to deaths.Terminally Ill people do not go through predictable stages, such as denial, anger, etc.

AIDS has left countless grief-stricken partners experiencing bereavement, as well as millions of orphaned children.- AIDS so often strikes down people in midlife and youngerIn 2004, the disease killed more than 3 million people worldwide.

One study, following more than 1 million Danes over the last half of the twentieth century,

found that more than 17,000 people had suffered the death of a child under 18.

Death is inevitable, and affects every individual differently, regardless of outward expressions

of emotions towards it.