MEDICALEXAMINER
TM
HEALTH • MEDICINE • WELLNESS • HEALTH • MEDICINE • WELLNESS • HEALTH • MEDICINE • WELLNESS • HEALTH • MEDICINE • WELLNESS • HEALTH • MEDICINE • WELLNESS • HEALTH • MEDICINE • WELLNESS • HEALTH • MEDICINE • WELLNESS • HEALTH • MEDICINE • WELLNESS • HEALTH • MEDICINE • WELLNESS
THEDEATHISSUE OCTOBER 19, 2018
AIKEN-AUGUSTAʼS MOST SALUBRIOUS NEWSPAPER • FOUNDED IN 2006
WHY DO PEOPLE COMMIT SUICIDE?
This worldwide scourge claims around 800,000 lives worldwide every year. There are no easy answers: every case is different. People often try to answer the inevitable “Why?” in simple terms. Depression is one of the most common pat answers, but only about 5 percent of people suffering from depression take their own life. And plenty of people who are not depressed commit suicide. No matter what the cause, Ralph Lewis, a Canadian psychiatrist and author who has treated many suicide survivors said about them in Scientific American, “They say, ‘I don’t know what came over me. I don’t know what I was thinking.’” He went on to stress why suicide prevention is so important: people who are convinced their life is not worth living can feel radically different months, weeks or even mere days later, cherishing their life as precious. Experts say if you’re having suicidal thoughts, do two things. 1. Wait it out. Realize that in time you will most likely experience a change of heart. 2. While you’re waiting, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-2738255 (800-273-TALK) or visit suicidepreventionlifeline.org for Live Chat and more information. Help is available all day and all night 365 days a year, and they offer help especially targeted to veterans, LGBTQ, youth, native Americans, disaster survivors, and survivors of previous suicide attempts. They’re also glad to provide advice if you’re calling about someone else. +
ARE DOCTORS USED TO DEATH?
Doctors are human beings, not robots. The subject of physician grief over the death of patients has not been extensively studied, but the National Institutes of Health collected what data it could find about doctors, interns and medical students coping with death, and the results show grief is a very common emotion in the healthcare field. In one study reported in JAMA, 73.1 percent of medical students reported crying and 16.5 reported “near crying” over the death of a patient and/or the family’s resulting distress. An Australian study found that crying in hospitals was reported by 76 percent of nurses and 57 percent of physicians. An Austrian study of 275 medical personnel found that crying on the job was “prevalent.” B. Siegel, writing in JAMA, admonished, “Please, fellow physicians, don’t cry in empty rooms, in stairwells, or in locker rooms—cry in public and let the patients and staff heal you and see you are human.” Overall, the NIH says “a significant proportion” of physicians and medical students have cried over patient deaths. +
AUGUSTARX.COM
WHAT TO DO WHEN SOMEONE DIES It is undeniably one of life’s worst moments. A family member has died. It really does not matter if the death was sudden and unexpected or a long time coming. It is still a terrible and bewildering moment that hardly anyone is really prepared to face, whether the death occurs in a hospital or at home. What should you do at that moment? Thankfully the answer is not complicated. If it happens at home, call 9-1-1. Emergency personnel will arrive quickly and provide the assistance and direction you need. If the family member’s death occurs at a hospital or other healthcare facility, one of your first calls should be to the funeral home of your choice. They deal with these difficult situations each and every day and know exactly how to navigate the many details that need to be addressed. +
WHY WERE DEATH MASKS POPULAR? In the days before photography, a death mask was the best way to accurately portray someone’s appearance. They were often used as the basis of busts and statues in memory of the Napoleon’s mask person who died. In “John Doe” missing persons or murder cases, death masks were also used by police to facilitate positive identification by relatives long after the unidentified person was buried. +
MORE INSIDE