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Death and dying

Photo of an elderly man sitting on a chair surrounded by various ornate coffins in a room with a chequered floor.

Death and dying

idea

As a society, we’re not death phobic, we’re death complacent

Our culture is routinely diagnosed with an excessive fear of mortality. A calm look at the evidence tells a different story

by Ingemar Patrick Linden

Photo of a woman in a pink top sitting indoors with eyes closed. Sunlight and shadows on the wall, plant on the right.

Death and dying

idea

It’s not foolish to foster hope in the face of illness and death

As a great loss loomed, I feared straying too far from the hard truth. But I learned to distinguish denial from hope

by Christiana Boules

Photo of a man relaxing on a garden lounger with hands behind head smiling, surrounded by chairs and a bottle on the grass.

Grief

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Why do so many of us blame ourselves after a loved one’s death?

After losing my father, I felt the guilt and regret that burden many other bereaved people – and found a way to carry them

by Delaney Rebernik

Photo of a glass shattering on a grey surface with shards scattered mid-air and on the ground.

Grief

idea

Grief is not a process with five stages. It is shattered glass

The five stages describe a grief that’s knowable and controlled. An accident in my kitchen helped me find a truer metaphor

by Joshua Thomas

Photo of people crossing a street in a city. Sunlight casts long shadows. Skyscrapers and flags are in the background.

Death and dying

idea

Why so many of us see our loved ones after they have died

These experiences – which are more of an illusion than a hallucination – can be a healthy part of the grieving process

by Shayla Love

Photo of a rural landscape with two traditional Asian pavilions, green fields and a cloudy sky in the background.

Rituals and celebrations

idea

Together forever: ‘at-home burial’ in southern Vietnam

What might a traveller along the Mekong Delta learn about the beliefs and traditions behind the country’s elevated tombs?

by Gina Elia

Photo of an elderly person’s hands clasped together, wearing an orange jumper, with focus on the wrinkles and texture.

Ageing

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Efforts to expand the lifespan ignore what it’s like to get old

As modern medicine extends the human lifespan, quality of life is not keeping up, raising thorny ethical dilemmas

by Robert S Gable

Photo of ancient clay sculptures of human heads partially buried in dirt, showing worn and textured surfaces.

Death and dying

idea

Why ancient Mesopotamians buried their dead beneath the floor

In an age before photos or audio recordings, people found other ways to stay sensorially connected to their deceased

by Nicola Laneri

Photo of a cyclist in a yellow shirt on a winding park path at sunset with a city skyline in the background.

Death and dying

idea

I thought I knew everything about death. Then grief struck me

Even though I grew up in Death World, and still live there, it couldn’t prepare me for being my family’s sole survivor

by John Troyer

Painting of a man on a leafy balcony with potted plants and German text on the wall below.

Thinkers and theories

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For Nietzsche, nihilism goes deeper than ‘life is pointless’

For Friedrich Nietzsche, nihilism is a terrible psychological problem – a coping mechanism with deadly consequences

by Kaitlyn Creasy

Painting of a chaotic ancient city in flames, with a large statue and crowds fleeing across a bridge over a turbulent sea.

History of ideas

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How the ancient philosophers imagined the end of the world

How the ancient Greeks and Romans imagined the end of the world, and what we can learn from them today about catastrophe

by Christopher Star

Photo of a close-up leaf on a branch, with a grey building marked “IFANG” in the blurred background.

Death and dying

idea

Should assisted death be available for intractable mental illness?

As a psychiatrist I am extremely wary of even the most careful provisions of assisted dying for people with mental illness

by Marie Nicolini