The reaction to a person's critical illness can vary from outright denial, to aggressiveness to complete openness, said David Casarett, associate professor of geriatric medicine at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. "There's a huge spectrum. Everyone handles this a little differently."
His book, "Last Acts," which will be published this year, explores the choices people make when facing a terminal illness.
"The common perception is that facing our deaths will cause us to change in fundamental ways," Casarett said. "People face circumstances in different ways. Some people do change. Other people don't."
Friday, May 22, 2009
Saying Goodbye at the End of Life
This piece that appeared last week on CNN's website discussed how people talk about death among family members.
