05-23-2020, 06:37 PM
Quote:The Dying Process
S E Follansbee
Abstract
AIDS: People with HIV/AIDS progress through four categories, or stages, of the dying process. These categories are: the psychic process of accepting death, which usually follows HIV diagnosis; the sociologic dying process, which involves withdrawal from people and activities; the biological dying process, which involves those characteristics that constitute being human, such as personality; and the physiologic dying process, which represents the failure of the body's organs. The process of dying may be influenced by social stigma, fear, and memories of the deaths of friends. By introducing the categories of dying, health care providers can help patients recognize the difference between living with HIV and dying from it. Four misconceptions about the dying process are noted. Many dying patients do not have severe pain, and those that do may respond to pain management. People with HIV do not starve to death; conversely, the weight loss ultimately results from the dying process. Dehydration is not painful, rather, it allows the body to slip more peacefully into a metabolic coma. Finally, talking about death with the patient should not be avoided. Medical therapy should include as much comfort as possible for the patient.
Don't forget Stage Five: Everybody who knows you celebrates the world being cleansed of another pestilence-infested pervert! C'mon Chip, don't keep us waiting!