On Death and Dying

Acceptance is the final stage in the process of grieving. The vast majority of terminal patients will eventually reach this stage after a period of moving through the previous four. Reaching acceptance, however, doesn’t necessarily mean that the patient is at peace or is happy about the diagnosis; acceptance is merely the realization that there is nothing else that can be done, and that the patient’s death is inevitable.

Chaplains are hospital personnel of various faiths that are specifically retained for their therapeutic and faith-based assistance. In the vast majority of cases, hospital chaplains belong to one of the three principal monotheistic faiths, or faiths that believe in one deity: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. While a chaplain may be present to patients of the same faith, they are often used by patients of differing faiths (or even no faith at all) based on their counseling and therapeutic abilities, and their experience in compassionate listening.

Decathexis is the act of detachment that occurs for most dying patients in the final days of their illness. Healthy, human beings typically have attachments to people, places, and things. In the last days before death, however, the patient detaches from even those they loved the most, signaling the individual’s readiness and preparedness to die.