Week 7 Harris: May Death Do Us Part

It is amazing to hear that the mortality rate has declined and that the average life expectancy is at an all-time high of nearly 78 years (pg. 280). But what is death really? Did you know there are four types of death, because I didn’t?  When an individual stops breathing and heart rate has stopped is termed clinical death. This is an unreliable and even temporary state because of CPR (pg. 281). The second kind of death is brain death. This occurs when the brain fails to receive a sufficient amount of oxygen causing all electrical activity to stop. This is seen when a person is in a irreversible coma (pg. 282). Even though the brain is dead, the body can remain alive for a long time. This is a scary subject and I would hate to have to see anyone I know in this state because how can you decide what is best for that person. The third kind of death is biological death. This kind follows brain death and clinical death. It is termed biological death when it is no longer possible to discern an electrical charge to the tissues of the heart and lungs. If this is caught early enough, the person can be saved with little damage remaining (pg. 282). The fourth kind of death is social death. This is interesting being it’s the point at which an individual is treated as dead although the person is still biologically alive.

If death isn’t bad enough, the grief that is involved may be one of the worst things anyone has to go through. Grief is the emotional response to the loss of another person. Psychologist see grief as an essential aspect to a healthy encounter with death. I can agree with that, because if you don’t grieve, it will end up eating away at you until you can’t hold it in anymore. They also mention anticipatory grief, which is like an advanced warming of what is to come (pg. 284). This is a way for yourself to prepare for what is to come and how one is going to live a life without that dying person. Even though it is hard to grieve, it is resolved by most people, but sometimes it goes unresolved and result in either delayed reactions, distorted reactions, and complicated grief. A way to deal with any grief can come from the funeral. But, planning this can be very hard. I know when my best friend’s father died, she had to take matters into her own hands, at the age of 21 mind you, because her mom couldn’t do it herself. I couldn’t imagine having to conduct and plan a funeral for anyone, but it is an important stage in a crisis like this.

Suicide, named the rejection of life is something that is hard to swallow. Just that definition stated in the book gives me the shivers. Like I mentioned earlier about my friend planning her dad’s funeral, he actually committed suicide. It’s hard to understand how someone can really feel that their personal pain weighs out the ability to cope with the pain (pg. 291). It surprises me that it is the second leading cause of death among people 13-19. It’s so sad that someone that young, who hasn’t even lived yet is going through that much pain. For the elderly population, depression is the link to their choice of suicide. I guess you can never really understand what someone else is feeling and you should always try to understand and talk with those who are going through any struggle.

A chance for a life do over is an interesting questions. In the book, it stated that most elderly people who were asked this question would have pursued education and worry less about work if they could start fresh (pg. 295). I think that’s interesting that that is the main thing said by them. I think some people wouldn’t and are happy with how things ended out, or if they change one thing they might not have met someone, but I guess you never really know. Being only 24, I know I would want to go back and change some things, but again would I be who I am today, with the people I am with, loving who I love? It’s a very hard question to answer once you actually sit down and think about it. Maybe everything does happen for a reason, but honestly that is something we will never truly know.