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Advice on Dire Diagnoses From a Survivor

By Jane E. Brody — 2007

With each diagnosis, knowing her life hung in the balance, she was “stunned, then anguished” and astonished by “how much energy it takes to get from the bad news to actually starting on the return path to health.”

Read on www.nytimes.com

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An Introduction to the Death-Positive Movement

In most modern cultures, it’s common for people to feel uneasy about death. We express this discomfort by avoiding conversations on the topic and lowering our voices when speaking of the dead and dying.

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Terminal Options for the Irreversibly Ill

My Feb. 5 column, “A Heartfelt Appeal for a Graceful Exit,” prompted a deluge of information and requests for information on how people too sick to reap meaningful pleasure from life might be able to control their death.

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Alternatives for the Final Disposition

Though I wince at the redundancy, funeral “pre-planning” is a phenomenon receiving increased attention, and a growing number of Web-based guides tell how to go about it. As www.funerals.org puts it: “Funeral planning starts at home.

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What Cancer Takes Away

When I got sick, I warned my friends: Don’t try to make me stop thinking about death.

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When Your Fears About Dying Are Unhealthy

The fear of death and dying is quite common, and most people fear death to varying degrees. To what extent that fear occurs and what it pertains to specifically varies from one person to another.

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My Own Life

A month ago, I felt that I was in good health, even robust health. At 81, I still swim a mile a day. But my luck has run out—a few weeks ago I learned that I have multiple metastases in the liver.

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What Death Teaches About Life: An Interview with Frank Ostaseski

Frank Ostaseski, an internationally respected Buddhist teacher and pioneer in end-of-life care, has accompanied over 1,000 people through their dying process.

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Ram Dass Is Ready to Die

For more than 50 years, Ram Dass has watched as other nontraditional spiritual leaders have come and gone while he has remained.

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A Heartfelt Appeal for a Graceful Exit

Studies of dying patients who seek a hastened death have shown that their reasons often go beyond physical ones like intractable pain or emotional ones like feeling hopeless.

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Don’t Tell Me When I’m Going to Die

Prognoses are more of an art than a science. Maybe it’s better not to know.

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Chronic Health Conditions