An inquiry about clinical death--considering spiritual pain.
According to a paper published by the International Work Group on Death, Dying and Bereavement, "Each person has a spiritual dimension." That means each person has spiritual energy and spiritual needs. In facing death, a patient suffers spiritual pain and needs spiritual care. This paper describes what spirituality and spiritual pain mean. It identifies nine types of fears and anxieties about death which become a source of spiritual pain: 1. Fear of pain; 2. Fear of loneliness; 3. Fear of unpleasant experiences; 4. Fear of becoming a burden to the family and to society; 5. Anxiety towards the unknown; 6. Fear of death resulting from fear of life; 7. Fear of death as a feeling that one's life task is still incomplete; 8. Fear of death as fear of personal extinction; 9. Fear of death as fear of judgment and punishment after death. Five types of spiritual pain that seem to be frequent among patients facing death are discussed: 1. Loss of self-determination; 2. Loss of meaning; 3. Guilt feelings; 4. Loneliness and isolation; 5. Loss of hope. Three ways of preventing or reducing excessive fear of death and of lowering the various types of spiritual pain are suggested: 1. Death education; 2. Presence at the bedside; 3. Humor as an expression of love.
Deeken
Alfons
A
Sophia University, Tokyo, Japan. alfons@deeken.de
D001007:Anxiety / Q000503:physiopathology; D003643:Death; D005239:Fear; D006167:Guilt; D006801:Humans; D008132:Loneliness; D010146:Pain / Q000209:etiology* / Q000517:prevention & control; D026684:Personal Autonomy; D029181:Spirituality; D014925:Wit and Humor as Topic