A Near-Death Experience: A Case Study

The process of making decisions for terminally ill patients at the edge of death is a difficult and complex one. The case study, A Difficult Death draws on Dave, a middle-aged successful man, diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and is terminally ill. Together Dave, his wife Mary, and their daughter Bethany must face Dave’s demise and the emotional toll that it has taken on the family.

David Eagleman’s Sum: Forty Tales from the Afterlives delivers an assortment of theories about what the human being might experience after passing away. The book ranges from terrifying, pessimistic likelihoods to uplifting and humorous perspectives presented in less than 4 pages each. The variety of possibilities about life after death presented prompts fear or optimism. Considering that the book is not tied or centered to a religion, some of the tales suggest that a God exists while others do not necessarily include a creator of life, instead they are situations that humans might face after passing away. Therefore, everyone’s spiritual connection or logical connection is unique and how each person depicts their destined fates differs.

There are many reasons why individuals are afraid of death: inability to take care of dependents, pain and sadness that loved ones will feel, or fear of the afterlife. But one of the most common reasons is the fear of nothingness and loss of self (Yalom, 1980). Death anxiety can manifest itself in many different ways (Yalom, 1980). One’s feeling of missing exciting events or the desire to control the surrounding world, demonstrate this manifestation. These unhealthy thoughts help individuals ease fear of death by dealing not with the real and terrifying source of anxiety, but indirectly, through more socially acceptable actions. Many people protect themselves from death anxiety by denying it. Yalom (1980) discussed two ways that accomplish this goal: the ultimate rescuer and personal specialness. Both ideas lead people to feel that they will not be affected by misfortune like others might be. The ultimate rescuer is a type of defense mechanism leading people to believe that someone will come into their life and save them from their problems. An example of this would be a person with severe financial problems needing money to take care of health problems believing that someone or something will bring the needed money and the situation will work itself out. Personal specialness involves the belief that one is in a way different from others and therefore immune from the hardships of life. Personal specialness

Death is one of the most avoided topics because of the finality that comes with it and the fear of the unknown after death. However, there are quite a number of authors such as AtulGawande, Elisabeth Kubler-ross and Ira Byock who have attempted to go ahead and deal with death as a topic and other connected topics.Each of these authors have delved into one of the most revered topics that is death including related topics that come with it such as the dying process itself. Ira Byock’s Dying well: Peace and possibilities at the end of life is a book that looks at the moment prior to death when an individual is terminally sick and is at the point of death. A

A spiritual and psychological inventory can be useful in helping someone to determine their current state of wellness. Kathleen Dowling Singh (2000) talks about how a spiritual assessment is helpful when people are close to dying as they begin to honestly and urgently examine their lives. Singh (2000) also suggests that regardless of how much time we have left to live, answering the questions in a spiritual inventory will help provide direction to our lives. The following questions were developed for this purpose and were used for an interview, the responses from the interview follows in Appendix A.

According to Kevin Nelson, a neuroscientist and the author of “The Spiritual Doorway in the Brain,” adults often have a sense of looking back over a life; young children, lacking that perspective, tend to report “castles and rainbows, often populated with pets, wizards, guardian angels, and like adults, they see relatives and religious figures, too.” It’s hard to convey to anyone who grew up without the idea of God just how fully the language, stories and “logic” of the Bible can dominate a young mind, even perhaps especially the mind of a toddler (Nelson, The Spiritual Doorway in the Brain”20-21.) There have been various accounts taken over the years regarding near death or life after death experiences. A known account of this situation is taken from Colton Burpo, in which a bestseller book published in 2010 and motion picture released in 2014 known as “Heaven is for Real” is based on. In 2003 three year-old Colton claimed to have visited Heaven during a near death experience where an emergency surgery was performed on him to save his life. Colton recounts the details of his amazing journey with childlike innocence and speaks about things that happened before his birth... things he could not possibly know. The next is the story of Dr. Eben Alexander, who is a proclaimed neurosurgeon and writer coming from a lineage of scholars and medical doctors. He

Back in the mid 70’s era, there were many test run to test the abilities of humans. One of these test were to see if there was a physiological explanation as to why the phenomenon known as the near death experience existed. The near death experience is a phenomenon that occurs when someone comes close to death this is also explained as “seeing the light” as many would compare it to. NDE’s can occur at any moment that someone is brought to the situation in which they are about to pass away. The problem with this today is determining whether or not the phenomenon exist or is just a part of someone’s dream state of mind based on what they know. Many believe this to be evident oppose to it

First, the religious concept views death as the commencement of a new life (Campione, 2004). Next, the

First, Religion is a strong opponent with near-death experiences. The Bible, Koran and the Tibetan

Year after year, the various departments and agencies of the United States Federal Government are becoming more diverse. The discussion of workplace diversity is not a discussion that is likely to disappear anytime soon in the future. To explain, the literature from Starks (2009) notes that by the year of 2050, minorities groups will account for fifty-percent of the population, in the United States of America. As a result, the discussion of diversity in the workplace is likely to still be a constant topic, for the various department and agencies of the United States Federal Government.

Spirituality and religion play a significant role in shaping the lives of individuals. Regardless of whether you follow the practices of an organized religion, simply believe in the spiritual life force or claim to not ascribe to religious or spiritual traditions, all of these paths affect the way an individual interacts with the world around them. One of the major influences of religion or spirituality is on one’s ability to cope with difficult situations. Whether it is the death of a loved one or the loss of a job, religion and spirituality can have monumental effects on how the individual responds to stressful or traumatic

This writer experienced that death and/or the end of life (EOL) may be sudden or may come after a long illness or injury; nevertheless, handling death is difficult and may be overwhelming. The reality of life is that death comes to all living things; however, humans often operate as if they are immortal, in that, it is awkward to achieve emotional acceptance that someday death is forthcoming. Ray Anderson, stated that “every

In most people 's lives, they will experience a moment of knowing death is near.

In the midst of undergoing a serious life-altering incident, one often experiences the feeling of a paradigm shift. It is amazing to see how our perspectives of the world shift when forced to reflect on what is truly important. Such is the way with death. Being near death causes a sharp realization of what is truly important in life--love of family and friends, faith in God, and making the world a better place to live in--and enables one to not merely accept this, but apply it to their life as well. All those typical, average daily worries and concerns about homework, professional careers, food, sleep, personal grooming, etc., while important and necessary in everyday life must seem unbelievably miniscule when the death has wiped ones

It was a warm fall day in early October, a day that I recall quite vividly. The smells of the transition from summer to fall were in the air, accompanied by the sounds of birds singing and the wind blowing through the trees. It was on this beautiful day that my existence was almost terminated. A quick hunting trip could have ended my life.