Something to Think About

QUESTION: I am a 30 year old woman working as a psychology intern at a local hospital. My engagement in the hospice program has me thinking a lot about my...

What we have learned that seems to be more helpful than administering oxygen is to give a small amount (the operative word here is “small”) of Morphine. The morphine can...

QUESTION: My question is about when someone with advanced dementia is in that sort of vague pre-active dying period, say those months in and out of the hospital, the time...

QUESTION: Please expound upon the "Labor of Dying" mentioned in this blog. Dying from disease and old age has a process to it. That process begins two to four months...

No one wants to be the bearer of bad news. Americans are a death denying society. We view death as the enemy and a failure: something to be feared and...

If you teach your families well about the approaching end of life there will be no problems with them understanding the labor of dying. Having someone you care about dying is...

I received the following comment on my Blog. "They are overmedicating Mom” (The family said of hospice professionals). “Following a brief rally, she slept most of the time and died...

QUESTION: What happens when we stop treatment and Mom doesn’t die? This is such a general question that it is hard to answer specifically but here are some ideas to...

Food is the body’s anchor to this planet. It is what keeps us going, gives us energy, grounds us. As death from disease approaches the body doesn’t want the grounding,...

Question: My father died just three days ago. Immediately following his death, my brother (my only sibling) immediately became controlling and started excluding me from all decisions, to the level...

QUESTION: My father and I have always had a difficult relationship. He is now approaching death. What do I do? There is no perfect relationship. Life is a series of...

QUESTION: Please talk about end of life pain management. There is so much confusion around end of life pain management. Confusion regarding use of narcotics, fear of overdosing and addiction....

The phenomenon generally occurs in the weeks before death and can be accompanied with restlessness and agitation. Generally, medication is not required unless the confusion and restlessness puts the person...

We must always respect a person’s choices. Remember, we approach this final challenge in our life in the same manner we have approached all of our challenges. If a belief...

QUESTION: Could you write about the fear of dying from the perspective of a patient not willing to go on hospice due to his fear of death and dying? It...

Having someone close to us in the dying process is so very sad but with a bit of knowledge it doesn’t have to be a bad experience...

QUESTION: You say people can see and interact with those who have died before us as they, themselves, lay dying. How about if a person is not dying, can they...

Question: What about dying and coming to peace? A lot has been talked about people accepting and “coming to terms” with their approaching death. Even Elizabeth Kubler-Ross talked about acceptance...

QUESTIONS: Suicide Obviously this is a very big subject and I can’t begin to cover it so I will just address suicide in relation to end of life issues. I've...

Questions Concerning Grief What are some of the feelings that a spouse expresses after their husband or wife passes? At first, most are just numb: they cry and are surprised...

“Therapy” was put in the “What to talk about” section of this web site. I am not sure of the meaning of this request. There are many kinds of therapy:...