Fear of the Unknown: Enlightened Aid-in-Dying / Edition 1

by Arthur S. Berger, Joyce Berger

Overview

How do doctors and nurses communicate with frightened patients who are dying, address the needs and concerns of the patients, and help the patients arrive at an acceptance of death? This work deals with the relationship that the health care team has with the dying and how well that team is prepared to address the fears of the dying. In addition, the health care team must learn to deal with their own emotions and ignorance concerning death. This work should be of interest to those professions that deal closely with dying people.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780275946838
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	03/24/1995
Pages:	176
Product dimensions:	6.14(w) x 9.21(h) x 0.44(d)
Lexile:	1310L (what's this?)

About the Author

ARTHUR S. BERGER is the director of the International Institute for the Study of Death. He has written more than 30 papers and several books on thanatology including When Life Ends (Praeger, in press), Dying and Death in Law and Medicine (Praeger, 1992), and To Die or Not To Die (Praeger, 1990).

JOYCE BERGER is administrator of the International Institute for the Study of Death. She is coauthor of the Encyclopedia of Parapsychology and Psychical Research and coeditor of Perspectives on Death and Dying and To Die or Not to Die (Praeger, 1990), among others.

Table of Contents

Introduction
Views of Death: General and Medical Implications
Views of Death
Personal Continuance View: Impact on the Dying Patient, Physician, Nurse, and Chaplain
Investigations and Pre-Death Phenomena
A Century of Investigation
Extrasensory Perception
Out-of-Body Experience
The Near-Death Experience
Deathbed Visions
At Death Phenomena
At Death
Post-Death Phenomena
Mental Mediumship
Reincarnation
Hauntings, Ghosts, and Apparitions
Appraisal and Judgment
Critical Appraisal
Evaluation, Persuasion, and Aid-in-Dying

Editorial Reviews

Reviewer: Margaret M. Brennan, DMin (Loyola University Medical Center)
Description: Aware that many healthcare professionals, and physicians in particular, are uncomfortable talking with dying patients about death and what comes after death, the authors seek to provide evidence of postmortem existence. To this end, they survey the field of psychical research, that is, research of paranormal experiences such as ESP, deathbed apparitions, near death experiences, ghosts, and mediums.
Purpose: The authors believe that recognition of such phenomena can be a valid basis for belief in life after death. From this perspective, death ceases to be an end in itself, but a doorway to a new life. If physicians and others who work with the dying are informed about this research, the authors believe it will be easier to support patients in their dying rather than ignoring patients' questions or viewing death as a failure.
Audience: This book is intended for the medical community that is grounded in scientific research. The authors are not interested in the religious or the emotional dimensions of the dying patient's experience. Rather, they turn to the small but enduring field of psychical research to explore the meaning and possibility of life after death.
Features: This book is a valuable compendium to the field of psychical research. It offers documented examples of the various phenomena. Many of these cases are from the nineteenth and early twentieth century when interest in researching such experiences developed. Whether the examples presented will be sufficient to overcome skepticism about such phenomena, and whether physicians and others who work with the dying will be drawn to exploring such paranormal experiences, is a valid question. The authors conclude by acknowledging their own doubts and unresolved questions about life after death even as they search the literature for evidence.
Assessment: Without diminishing the fact that some people experience such phenomena, it is difficult to draw conclusions about what happens after we die. Belief about life after death may still be a more appropriate subject for theological and philosophical reflection than scientific inquiry.

Doody's Review Service

3 Stars from Doody

Aware that many healthcare professionals, and physicians in particular, are uncomfortable talking with dying patients about death and what comes after death, the authors seek to provide evidence of postmortem existence. To this end, they survey the field of psychical research, that is, research of paranormal experiences such as ESP, deathbed apparitions, near death experiences, ghosts, and mediums. The authors believe that recognition of such phenomena can be a valid basis for belief in life after death. From this perspective, death ceases to be an end in itself, but a doorway to a new life. If physicians and others who work with the dying are informed about this research, the authors believe it will be easier to support patients in their dying rather than ignoring patients' questions or viewing death as a failure. This book is intended for the medical community that is grounded in scientific research. The authors are not interested in the religious or the emotional dimensions of the dying patient's experience. Rather, they turn to the small but enduring field of psychical research to explore the meaning and possibility of life after death. This book is a valuable compendium to the field of psychical research. It offers documented examples of the various phenomena. Many of these cases are from the nineteenth and early twentieth century when interest in researching such experiences developed. Whether the examples presented will be sufficient to overcome skepticism about such phenomena, and whether physicians and others who work with the dying will be drawn to exploring such paranormal experiences, is a valid question. The authors conclude by acknowledging their own doubts andunresolved questions about life after death even as they search the literature for evidence. Without diminishing the fact that some people experience such phenomena, it is difficult to draw conclusions about what happens after we die. Belief about life after death may still be a more appropriate subject for theological and philosophical reflection than scientific inquiry.

Margaret M. Brennan

Deals with epistemological issues surrounding dying patients and the relationships between medical professionals and the dying, helping members of the health team address their emotions and fears about death. Discusses the question of life after death from various perspectives, and draws on psychic research to explore pre-death phenomena, out-of-body and near-death experiences, mental mediumship, reincarnation, and ghosts. Includes a section on critical appraisal of these ideas, and the authors' personal convictions. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Booknews