Widely observed decline in cognitive abilities shortly before death
Near-Death Experience
Often involving a sense of being out of the body or sucked into a tunnel and visions of bright lights or mystical encounters
Near-Death Experience
Linked to stimulation or damage of various brain areas, most notably in bilateral frontal and occipital areas
Generally experienced as positive as a result of the release of endorphins
Five Stages of Death
1. Denial
2. Anger
3. Bargain
4. Depression
5. Acceptance
Grief
Emotional response that generally follows closely on the heels of death
Bereavement
Response to the loss of some whom a person feels close
Grief Work
1. Shock and Disbelief
2. Preoccupation with the memory of the dead person
3. Resolution
Recovery Pattern
Mourner goes high to low distress
Delayed Grief
Moderate or elevated initial grief, and symptoms worsen over time
Chronic Grief
Distressed for a long time
Resilience
The mourner shows a low and gradually diminishing level of grief in response to the death of a loved one
By age 4, children build a partial understanding of the biological nature of death
Adjusting to loss is more difficult if a child had a troubled relationship with the person who died
They do not understand death, but they understand loss
Often, teens turn to peers for support
Young adults will find their entire world collapsing at once when they knew they are dying instead of dealing with other issues
Middle-Aged and Older adults are more prepared with death
Terror Management Theory
Human's unique understanding of death, in concern with self-preservation needs and capacity for fear, results in common emotional and psychological responses when mortality, or thoughts of death are made salient
