A good death

A good death

by Saadia Aziz Dhedhi -
Number of replies: 5

A good death can be explained through looking through a social, cultural, individual, religious lens.

 

Coming from a religious background, rather different to that of the Western world, I believe a good death is one where the mind is at peace. To be able to die, knowing you have fulfilled your role, aspirations and goals in life is something that is of importance to me.  The concept of afterlife is one that is not generalizable to all, though for those from a religious background, it may play a great role in the meaning of death. A good death can be thought of as, somewhat, being prepared for what’s to come next.

 

Looking from a more cultural aspect, perhaps knowing that family and those who you love are by your side can make the experience of death easier. Every culture has different rituals associated with death with contribute to the meaning of death too.

 

When looking at death from a more individualistic lens, the meaning can depend on individual experiences, such as watching a close family member suffer from metastatic cancer, personality of an individual and particular fears and phobias of people. Dying from a road traffic accident or from drowning may not be as traumatic for one person as it is for another due to differences in thoughts, experiences, phobias etc.

In reply to Saadia Aziz Dhedhi

Re: A good death

by Patricia Greenhalgh -

Good post Saadia. What do you think a 'good death' means in the sociological sense?

In reply to Patricia Greenhalgh

Re: A good death

by Deleted user -

In the sociological sense i thought a good death would be dieing free of any social responisibilities. For instance when the parents are done marrying their children it is thought that they are free of responsibilities and can now die peacefully. 

Similarly, If a person plays a  beneficial role in the society, he is percieved as a good person. In such a case it is more likely that he/she would have a bigger funeral with a large number of attendees. A person with a big funeral is socially as well as relegiously thought of having a good death. 

Moreover, social stressors like retirement or a change of residence could have a mortal impact on an individual. So if a person who has a good retirement and doesnt face any economical challenges before death is also considered to have had a good death. 

Another aspect of a good sociological death could be to take into account the death of soldiers fighting at borders or in war to safeguard their countries. These people are called martyrs and are respected for their good deeds for the community and are usually awarded by various medels. 

In reply to Patricia Greenhalgh

Re: A good death

by Krishni Ratnam -

This is highly dependent on the society that we live in. Coming from a relatively individualist society, Walter describes that a good death would be you deciding when to die and on what terms. A bad death being the opposite (he uses Alzheimers patients as an example). Being born and raised here, I am inclined to follow this belief.  He raises an interesting point about culture clashes over death as certain cultures over here have not yet (or perhaps never will) become individualistic. There also different communities which form such as self help groups which again might create tensions or be beneficial in the same way as the tight knit communities of the old.

It is also not solely dependent on this, the era in which the death occurred and how society perceives death is important and it comes down to which of these domains rule when concerned with death ; religious, scientific institutional or the local community. As Armstrong had described there has been shifts in who the authority over death is over time. This had in itself also changed even the meaning of death with changes in each of these domains. 

In reply to Saadia Aziz Dhedhi

Re: A good death

by Deleted user -

Hi Saadia, 

I definately agree with you that can be explained by looking through a social, cultural, individual, religious lens.

And I also agree with you that dying from a road traffic accident for example may not be as traumatic for one person as it is for some one else due to differences in thoughts, experiences, phobias..I guess it all comes down to the different fears we have (in terms of dying)

 

In reply to Deleted user

Re: A good death

by Patricia Greenhalgh -

Great posts everyone. I certainly agree that a 'good death' is socially and culturally relative. I also liked Anam's suggestion that a god death is also one that occurs when one feels one's work on earth is done e.g. when one has married off one's children!  In other words it's not just HOW you die but WHEN you die in relation to life's projects. Can you see how this fits with narrative medicine?