Dying at a Young Age Death can occur at any age or period in a person’s life. Death is a natural part of life that everyone will one day have to face. So why does it seem so different when a young adult or adolescent dies in comparison to an older adult? Is it so different? My brother lost two of his best friends in the last three years. One in a car accident and one to a terminal illness. I also lost my best friend in a car accident. In this paper we will look at why people consider it so different when a younger person dies, as well as what is appropriate behavior in dealing with death. MT was a fourteen year old boy that was entering his freshman year of high school. MT was very athletic and active young man. One day MT, used to the usual severe headaches that he sometime got, blacked out. His parents rushed him to the emergency room. The doctors believed it was just a seizure. After a couple weeks in the hospital MT was released from the hospital just before Thanksgiving. On Thanksgiving day MT blacked out again. He was again rushed to the hospital. This time doctors believed it was a tumor, but had to wait for the swelling in the brain to go down to do surgery. MT went into a coma, which he never came out of. The doctors finally figured out MT had a rare disease called Moa-Moa. The disease caused the blood vessels in the brain to burst. MT died five days before his fifteenth birthday. CO, a typical high school senior, thought he was invincible. CO decided to drag race one of his friends. As they went around a forty-five mile per hour curve at eighty miles per hour CO left the road. CO was instantly killed as two passengers walked away with a few cuts and bruises. MW, a twenty year old college student, was on her way home for the summer break. MW looked up to see another car in her lane trying to pass a semi.
We all deal with death in our lives, and that is why Michael Lassell’s “How to Watch Your Brother Die” identifies with so many readers. It confronts head on the struggles of dealing with death. Lassell writes the piece like a field guide, an instruction set for dealing with death, but the piece is much more complex than its surface appearance. It touches on ideas of acceptance, regret, and misunderstanding to name a few. While many of us can identify with this story, I feel like the story I brought into the text has had a much deeper and profound impact. I brought the story of my grandmother’s death to the text and it completely changed how I analyzed this text and ultimately came to relate with it. I drew connections I would have never have drawn from simply reading this story once.
Death is sometimes considered unthinkable. People do not wish to think of loved ones dying. When someone close to us dies we are over come with sadness. We wish we had more time with them. Their death shows us the importance of that person’s role in our lives. We begin to think of how we will live our lives without them. We think of all the moments we shared with them, they live again in our memories. Perhaps death is considered unthinkable because we fe...
Lossography is the concept that death can be meaningful based upon cultural values, traditions, and personal beliefs. There are many situations that pertain to the concept of Lossography one particular relation is death education. According to Lossography pertaining to students studies show that students tend to express the issues of death more elaborately through writing (Bolkan, 2015). This is an important aspect of Lossography due to the students being able to express how they feel about death, and be able to express their experiences and cultural beliefs pertaining to a loss loved one. According to the study the most frequent reported death is the loss of a grandparent; many students have encountered the loss of a grandparent at an early
Death is an enigmatic phenomenon that mankind dances with. Experienced by everyone at some point or another, death weaves its way through our lives and presents to us the reality of its finality and the truth of the unknown. Consequently, death results in the natural need to mourn the loss of people passed on. For most aging adults, death becomes a more conspicuous matter to address than in earlier years. Some cope better than others with the inevitable nature of death, seeing it as the necessary conclusion to a long life, while others deny its approach and attempt to delay its occurrences as long as possible.
Death is the unfortunate event in which the people on this Earth have to embrace as a part of life. Most can relate to death in some way whether it be by relating to someone who has died or being close to someone that has lived this eventual nightmare everyone can relate to death and grief in some type of way. According to the OED, grief is the “... act or fact of dying; the end of life; the final cessation of the vital functions of an individual.” Death and grief are forever in the lives of death’s victims, with no known cure, just nullified existence to help lessen the pain. As the grieving process becomes an essential element to families affected by death, a developing mentality can be forever shaped by the components of death, grief, and redemption.
Throughout the history of mankind there are two main things that are guaranteed in life, taxes and death. According to researchers at Hebrews For Christians, 56,000,000 people die each year, (Parson, 2014). Many of these people die at ripe old ages while there are a plethora of young people who die slow and tragic deaths. When death occurs many people are not prepared and therefore many devastating things can result from this. People usually experience problems with their emotions, they will stress over a number of situations, and many health issues will arise. Many people become depressed for long periods of time and give up on life. Although there are people who take these experiences to heart, there are many ways a person can deal with these problems. Dealing with these problems in a healthy manner, can lead to a very healthy healing process for everyone who is being affected by it. In this research paper I will discuss three main keys points. The first key point I will discuss the stages of death in the Kubler - Ross Model. Secondly I will discuss is the psychological effect of how death can effect people in many different ways. Third and final, I will show you many different ways a person can deal with grief.
With the mention of death, three words come to mind, e.g., grief, mourning, and bereavement. Although, Touhy and Jett (2016) cited that these three words are used interchangeably, the authors differentiated the three, e.g., bereavement indicates the occurrence of a loss; grief referred to the emotional response to the loss, and mourning as the “outward expression of loss” (p. 482). It should be noted, that all three implied a loss. In addition, they are applied not only in times of death, but also in all kinds of loss. A loss brings along with it a trail of thoughts, feelings, and emotions. One such thought is the consideration of what it would be when one is gone forever. As discussed
Leming, M., & Dickinson, G. (2011). Understanding dying, death, & bereavement. (7th ed., pp. 471-4). Belmont, California: Wadsworth.
Death and dying is a natural and unavoidable process that all living creatures will experience at some point in life, whether it is one’s own person death or the death of a close friend or family member. Along with the experience of death comes the process of grieving which is the dealing and coping with the loss of the loved one. Any living thing can grieve and relate to a loss, even children (Shortle, Young, & Williams, 1993). “Childhood grief and mourning of family and friends may have immediate and long-lasting consequences including depression, anxiety, social withdrawal, behavioral disturbances, and school underachievement” (Kaufman & Kaufman, 2006, p. 61). American children today grow up in cultures that attempt to avoid grief and deny inevitability of death (Shortle, Young, & Williams, 1993). Irreversibility, finality, inevitability, and causality are the four factors relative to a child’s understanding of death. These four components are relative to a child’s developmental level at the death is occurs (Willis, 2002).
People cope with the loss of a loved one in many ways. For some, the experience may lead to personal growth, even though it is a difficult and trying time. There is no right way of coping with death. The way a person grieves depends on the personality of that person and the relationship with the person who has died. How a person copes with grief is affected by the person's cultural and religious background, coping skills, mental history, support systems, and the person's social and financial status.
Throughout life individuals go through many different losses in life. In Grief and Losses across the Lifespan I have learned that death is not the only type of loss that people experience in life. Before taking this course, I was not aware of the multiple type of loss individual could experience. For most individuals not educated on these losses, they look at them as expected. From the typical occurrence of these loss they become disenfranchised by society which causes people to experience complicated grief. As people develop through different age groups they experience different typical and maturational losses, that need to be grieved. As I age I anticipate going through different losses that will each have a lasting effect on me. Some of
Each year thousands of teenagers experience the death of someone they love. When a parent, sibling, friend, or relative dies, teens feel the overwhelming loss of someone who helped shape their -fragile self-identities. Caring adults, whether parents, teachers, counselors or friends, can help teens during this time. If adults are open, honest and loving, experiencing the loss of someone loved can be a chance for young people to learn about both the joy and pain that comes from caring deeply for others. There are many common reactions to trauma, grief, and bereavement among teens. First of all, shock and denial. Feeling numb, stunned and dazed are healthy and normal reactions. Often, it is difficult to “take in” information. The grieved may not have an appetite. People often feel completely exhausted, yet unable to sleep. The reverse may occur where people sleep most of the time. Feelings may range from fear and anxiety to guilt and depression. There are time some may feel they are going crazy. It is healthy to express true feelings in this stage. Some people find relief in crying and or talking to someone.
Grief can be defined as the natural reaction to loss. Grief is both a universal and personal experience (Mayo Clinic, 2014). Individual experiences of grief vary and are influenced by the nature of the loss (Mayo Clinic, 2014). There are multiple different theories that have attempted to explain the complex process of grief and loss. Theorists such as Elisabeth Kubler-Ross, William Worden and John Bowbly explain in their theories how they believe an individual deals with the grieving process. In this essay, I will be focusing on William Worden’s theory and will be discussing the process for a child aged nine to eleven.
Everyone has or will experience a loss of a loved one sometime in their lives. It is all a part of the cycle of life and death. The ways each person copes with this loss may differ, but according to Elisabeth Kübler-Ross’s novel On Death and Dying, a person experiences several stages of grief: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and, finally, acceptance. There is no set time for a person to go through each stage because everyone experiences and copes with grief differently. However, everyone goes through the same general feelings of grief and loss. There are also sections in Kahlil Gibran’s “The Prophet” that connect to the process of grieving: “On Pain,” “On Joy and Sorrow,” and “On Talking.” Kahlil Gibran’s “The Prophet” reflects on Kübler-Ross’s model of the different stages of grief and loss.
I had driven home this way a thousand times before, but today would be different. The misty rain made the road slick as I steered the car through the slow, wide curve. It may have been the setting sun in my eyes, but it was probably a combination of the loud song on the radio and the slight yawn that escaped from my mouth. Regardless, a momentary distraction was all it took as the tires hit the damp gravel. The wet rubber and slick stones triggered the car to slide off the road to the right. In a panic, I jerked the wheel to the left, over-correcting the slide. Swerving across oncoming traffic, my car jumped over the drainage ditch and smashed down into a neighbor’s front yard. Continuing its dangerous journey, the car destroyed a lamp