Psych 241 chapter 19

Active euthanasia

The practice of assisting terminally ill people in dying more quickly by deliberate means, such as by administering a fatal dose of pain medication.

Bereavement

The process of coping with the sense of loss that follows a loved one’s death.

Clinical death

Defines death as the moment the heart stops beating.

Death with dignity

Ending one’s life in a way that is true to one’s preferences and controlling end-of-life care.

Dual-process model of grief

Poses that bereavement is accompanied by loss-oriented stressors (emotional attachment) and restoration-oriented stressors (life changes); healthy adjustment is promoted by alternating focus between the two types.

Durable power of attorney

A document in which individuals legally authorize a trusted relative or friend to make legal, financial, or health care decisions on their behalf if they are unable to do so.

Dying trajectory

Refers to the variability in the rate of decline that people show prior to death.

Euthanasia

Refers to the practice of assisting terminally ill people in dying more quickly.

Grief

The affective response to bereavement that includes distress and an intense array of emotions such as hurt, anger, and guilt.

Hospice

An approach to end-of-life care that emphasizes a dying patient’s need for pain management; psychological, spiritual, and social support; and death with dignity.

Living will

A legal document that permits a person to make his or her wishes known regarding medical care in the event that the person is incapacitated by an illness or accident and is unable to speak for himself or herself.

Mourning

The ceremonies and rituals a culture prescribes for expressing bereavement.

Noncorporeal continuation

The view that some form of life and personal continuity exists after the physical body has died.

Palliative care

An alternative to medical treatment in which dying patients receive medications to control pain and related symptoms.

Passive euthanasia

Occurs when life-sustaining treatment, such as a ventilator, is withheld or withdrawn, allowing a person to die naturally.

Persistent vegetative state (PVS)

Cortical death when the person appears awake but is not aware, due to permanent loss of all activity in the cortex.

Physician-assisted suicide

A type of voluntary active euthanasia in which terminally ill patients make the conscious decision that they want their life to end before dying becomes a protracted process.

Whole brain death

Refers to the irreversible loss of functioning in the entire brain that may occur prior to clinical death.

Widowhood

The status of a person who has lost a spouse through death and has not remarried.

Widowhood effect

Refers to the increased likelihood for a widowed person to die, illustrating the relationship between social relations and health.