Debate surrounding the death
“The psychology of death" and "education for death" are talked about as new ways
of looking at, as the scholars say, death and dying.
The branch
of science that has been taking care of these studies is Thanatology which for
some authors is the science which studies the emotional and psychological
reactions that involve the reactions to the loss, grief and death.
Some
authors in Brazil have been highlighted in the study of Thanatology, among
others: Evaldo D'Assumpção, Wilma Coast Torres, Roosevelt Moises Smeke Cassorla
and Maria Julia Kovacs.
The
Spiritist view is also present in the work organized by Franklin Santana Santos,
Dora Incontri, both professors at USP and members of the Spiritist movement.
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The consequences
of alienation in
light of this
natural fact
range from
denial over the
events (the
death of
someone) to
extreme fear,
which causes
depression,
syndromes such
as panic
disorder and
other
psychological
disorders.
Roosevelt
Cassorla, a
specialist in
Thanatology and
author of "Of
the Suicide:
Brazilian
Studies”,
deepens the
discussion by
showing us that
the denial of
death can lead
to "melancholy
processes,
somatic
difficulties in
resuming life,
suicide risk,
withdrawal of
life, feelings
of guilt etc...
" Facing its
occurrence with
someone close or
distant, but
that somehow
affects us, is
part of the
grieving
process, which
normally should
lead us to
accept both
death and dying.
Luto (Mourning
in English)
derives from
Latin- Luctus
and originally
meant only
"pain, hurt,
sorrow." Over
time its meaning
has been
expanded, and
today we have
the definition
of the
Dictionary as
the "feeling of
deep sadness
because of
someone's death"
or caused by
other reasons
(separation,
departure, break
etc.);
bitterness,
heartbreak. A
related term to
the word luto
(mourning) is
loss, because
whenever there
is a significant
loss in our
lives, whether
of a person or a
condition or
feeling
(employment, a
body alteration,
change in living
conditions,
abandonment,
etc.) we,
naturally, go
through the
mourning
process.
In general, it
is not easy to
deal with loss
and mourning
becomes
complicated,
because we are
dealing with our
own reactions,
over which,
ultimately, we
have no control.
And when this
loss occurs by
death caused by
suicide,
mourning will
become even more
difficult.
Suicide,
according to
psychologists
Basil Domingos
and Maria Regina
Maluf, make up
the list of
dramatic losses,
along with,
among other
causes, AIDS.
For being
"socially
unauthorised"
losses, that is,
situations where
the person dies
because of an
alleged
unacceptable
behaviour of the
group that he
belongs to,
often also have
unauthorised
grief. So the
survivor
isolates himself
and therefore
looses the
benefits of the
cathartic
process of the
outburst of
feelings, of the
remaking and of
all the support
they could
receive, whether
from friends,
relatives, or
other
institutions,
public and
private. For
example,
insurers do not
usually pay the
family a premium
in case of death
by suicide.
When venting one’s feelings is the best way
According
to the coordinator of the program of Intervention in Crisis and Suicide
Prevention, of the Institute of Psychology, UnB, Cristina Moura, "the venting of
feelings reduces the traumatic impact caused by the passing away of a fellow
being and helps the bereaved to overcome their loss. The process is called by
the specialists of "grief process". "Some people have the idea that grief is
something that you sit through, wait and it goes away. In truth, thist is not
what happens," he explains. "The mourner thinks the problem goes away if you do
not remember. But he loses the opportunity to talk about it and thus to draw up
the fight, "he says.
Some institutions maintain support groups for bereaved, such as the University
of Brasilia: www.secom.unb.br/releases/rl0308-05.htm. |
To recap: death
is a natural
process, but it
has been denied,
which has led to
serious
consequences for
public health.
Experts say that
society needs to
urgently
re-humanize the
"dying", which
would imply
re-taking in
both old and
good habits such
as allowing
terminally ill
patients die at
home, with their
family, and
making the
funeral
arrangements at
home in order to
mourn the dead,
drawing mourning
more easily and
giving children
and young people
a healthy
contact with
this inevitable
occurrence in
life! Mourning
should be
experienced
throughout all
its stages, to
enable people to
deal emotionally
with the
distress
resulting from
loss, helping
the scarring of
the necessary
wounds of the
soul in order to
to move forward,
especially in
more drastic
events such as
suicide and
violent deaths
in general.
(The conclusion
of this article
will be
published in
next issue of
this magazine).
Abel Sidney
is a writer and
teacher. He
participates in
the Spiritist
movement in
Porto Velho in
Roraima. He is
the author of
Lessons from a
Suicide: a study
of the classic
Memoirs of a
Suicide "and
maintains a blog
on the Internet,
the blog
Suicide: learn
to prevent:
www.conhecerparaprevenir.blogspot.com
This article
was originally
published in the
magazine
Spiritist
Universe, in
October 2008.
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