Fear of the Unknown: Enlightened Aid-in-Dying

How do doctors and nurses communicate with frightened patients who are dying, address the needs and concerns of the patients, and help the patients arrive at an acceptance of death? This work deals with the relationship that the health care team has with the dying and how well that team is prepared to address the fears of the dying. In addition, the health care team must learn to deal with their own emotions and ignorance concerning death. This work should be of interest to those professions that deal closely with dying people.

Table of Contents:
Introduction Views of Death: General and Medical Implications Views of Death Personal Continuance View: Impact on the Dying Patient, Physician, Nurse, and Chaplain Investigations and Pre-Death Phenomena A Century of Investigation Extrasensory Perception Out-of-Body Experience The Near-Death Experience Deathbed Visions At Death Phenomena At Death Post-Death Phenomena Mental Mediumship Reincarnation Hauntings, Ghosts, and Apparitions Appraisal and Judgment Critical Appraisal Evaluation, Persuasion, and Aid-in-Dying

About the Author :
ARTHUR S. BERGER is the director of the International Institute for the Study of Death. He has written more than 30 papers and several books on thanatology including When Life Ends (Praeger, in press), Dying and Death in Law and Medicine (Praeger, 1992), and To Die or Not To Die (Praeger, 1990). JOYCE BERGER is administrator of the International Institute for the Study of Death. She is coauthor of the Encyclopedia of Parapsychology and Psychical Research and coeditor of Perspectives on Death and Dying and To Die or Not to Die (Praeger, 1990), among others.

Review :
"Do we survive death? How we answer this question could make a significant difference in the way we cope with the dying process. Here is a well-informed and responsible presentation that could, indeed, reduce Fear of the Unknown. Recommended to believers, skeptics, and especially 'inbetweeners.' This book is innovative in its application of the survival literature to current aid-in-dying concerns, and it was a pleasure to read."- Robert Kastenbaum, Ph.D. editor, OMEGA: Journal of Death and Dying "Fear of the Unknown meets head-on the problem that has caused more suffering for more human beings than all diseases combined: the fear of death. This book is an impressive survey of the attempts of researchers to 'look beyond.' It is a unique and valuable contribution to our understanding of the question of survival, and will help anyone deal more compassionately with the sick and dying."-Larry Dossey, M.D. author of Healing Words Recovering the Soul ?This book is a valuable compendium to the field of psychical research. It offers documented examples of the various phenomena.?-Doody's Journal ?This is an important and praiseworthy study. It lays out obejctively the arguments for and against survival of bodily death. It does not pretend to find the one answer, but shows that both belief in, and denial of, survival are reasonable positions which can be defended logically and which many itelligent people hold. This book of general interest, which would be of particular benefit to skeptical scientists who have never surveyed the psychic field. The volume is ideal for office and professional libraries. Strongly recommended.?-Spiritual Frontiers "This book is a valuable compendium to the field of psychical research. It offers documented examples of the various phenomena."-Doody's Journal "This is an important and praiseworthy study. It lays out obejctively the arguments for and against survival of bodily death. It does not pretend to find the one answer, but shows that both belief in, and denial of, survival are reasonable positions which can be defended logically and which many itelligent people hold. This book of general interest, which would be of particular benefit to skeptical scientists who have never surveyed the psychic field. The volume is ideal for office and professional libraries. Strongly recommended."-Spiritual Frontiers