You probably think that death is the worst thing that can happen. Many talk about terrible fear, and many experience panic attacks. There is a whole theory of managing fear of death, according to which people develop many strategies to help them cope with this phobia.
How do people feel before they die?
It is logical to assume that people on their deathbed will express even more fear and anxiety. To clarify the situation, let us turn to the descriptions of the experiences of dying people, which were processed by Elizabeth Kubler-Ross and called the "five stages of grief." The last of the described stages assumes that a person close to death is well aware of his departure. Surprisingly, most often death is not compared to something terrible, but is perceived in a more positive way. Why is this happening?
Evidence from critically ill
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To broaden our understanding of the emotions people feel at the brink of death, let us turn to a 2017 study by Amelia Ghoranson and Ryan Ritter and colleagues. During the experiment, the research team analyzed the content of blogs posted by people with cancer and people suffering from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (Lou Gehrig's disease).
The experts examined the ratio of positive and negative moods in critically ill patients. The most interesting were the tendencies in the mood of persons approaching death. Ordinary people took part in the study as a control group. These volunteers were asked to pretend they were suffering from an incurable disease and to describe their emotions in a blog post.
Results of the experiment
As a result, it turned out that healthy bloggers expressed approximately the same amount of positive and negative sentiments.
In contrast, dying participants experienced twice as many positive emotions. In addition, peak indications of a positive state of mind were observed as death approached (the fifth stage of grief).
The last word of the prisoners
To look at this idea from different angles, the authors of the experiment analyzed data from prisoners on death row awaiting their fate in Texas prisons. Last words were collected from approximately 500 death row inmates. In this experiment, a control group of volunteers was also involved as a comparison, who were asked to present themselves on the verge of execution for a crime.
Previous findings have been fully confirmed. Participant bloggers, who imagined their hypothetically last day in the cell, expressed roughly equal proportions of positive and negative sentiments. But the real prisoners in the overwhelming number of cases were positively disposed before the meeting with the lethal injection.
This knowledge will help the loved ones of the dead
Both of these findings are consistent with Elisabeth Kubler-Ross's description. When people approach death at arm's length, they feel neither hopelessness, nor anger, nor fear.
Instead, they express positive thoughts, more like liberation from suffering. This knowledge will help relatives who grieve inconsolably not because of the loss itself, but because of empathy for the suffering of the deceased person.
Inga Kaisina