A new book to help the dying, their loved ones and their health care workers better understand the dying process and to come to terms with death itself.
The Art of Dying is a contemporary version of the medieval Ars Moriendi-a manual on how to achieve a good death. Peter Fenwick is an eminent neuropsychiatrist, academic and expert on disorders of the brain. His most compelling and provocative research has been into the end of life phenomena, including near-death experiences and deathbed visions of the dying person, as well as the experiences of hospice and palliative care workers and relatives of dying people. Dr. Fenwick believes that consciousness may be independent of the brain and so able to survive the death of the brain, a theory which has divided the scientific community. The "problem with death" is deeply rooted in our culture and the social organization of death rituals. Fenwick believes that with serious engagement and through further investigation of these phenomena, he can help change attitudes so that we in the West can face up to death, and embrace it as a significant and sacred part of life. We have become used to believing that we have to shield each other from the idea of death. Fear of death means we view it as something to be fought every step of the way.
Aimed at a broad popular readership, The Art of Dying looks at how other cultures have dealt with death and the dying process (The Tibetan "death system", Swedenborg, etc.) and compares this with phenomena reported through recent scientific research. It describes too the experiences of health care workers who are involved with end of life issues who feel that they need a better understanding of the dying process, and more training in how to help their patients die well by overcoming the common barriers to a good death, such as unfinished business and unresolved emotions of guilt or hate.
From descriptions of the phenomena encountered by the dying and those around them, to mapping out ways in which we can die a "good death", this book is an excellent basis for helping people come to terms with death.
A new book to help the dying, their loved ones and their health care workers better understand the dying process and to come to terms with death itself.
The Art of Dying is a contemporary version of the medieval Ars Moriendi-a manual on how to achieve a good death. Peter Fenwick is an eminent neuropsychiatrist, academic and expert on disorders of the brain. His most compelling and provocative research has been into the end of life phenomena, including near-death experiences and deathbed visions of the dying person, as well as the experiences of hospice and palliative care workers and relatives of dying people. Dr. Fenwick believes that consciousness may be independent of the brain and so able to survive the death of the brain, a theory which has divided the scientific community. The "problem with death" is deeply rooted in our culture and the social organization of death rituals. Fenwick believes that with serious engagement and through further investigation of these phenomena, he can help change attitudes so that we in the West can face up to death, and embrace it as a significant and sacred part of life. We have become used to believing that we have to shield each other from the idea of death. Fear of death means we view it as something to be fought every step of the way.
Aimed at a broad popular readership, The Art of Dying looks at how other cultures have dealt with death and the dying process (The Tibetan "death system", Swedenborg, etc.) and compares this with phenomena reported through recent scientific research. It describes too the experiences of health care workers who are involved with end of life issues who feel that they need a better understanding of the dying process, and more training in how to help their patients die well by overcoming the common barriers to a good death, such as unfinished business and unresolved emotions of guilt or hate.
From descriptions of the phenomena encountered by the dying and those around them, to mapping out ways in which we can die a "good death", this book is an excellent basis for helping people come to terms with death.
1. The Start of the Journey
2. Talking to Carers
3. Deathbed visions
4. Deathbed coincidences
5. Finding Explanations - Deathbed Visions
6. Explaining Coincidences
7. Bereavement and Hallucinations
8. Grandfather's clock and other odd incidences
9. Visions of Light and Mist
10. The Search for the Soul
11. The Last Frontier: the Unsolved Problem of Consciousness
12. Consciousness and the Near Death Experience
13. Dying a Good Death
14. The Journey to Elsewhere - Coming to Terms with Death
A contemporary version of the medieval Ars Moriendi - a manual on how to achieve a good death.
Dr Peter Fenwick is an internationally renowned neuropsychiatrist
and a Fellow of the Royal College of Psychiatrists. He is Britain's
leading clinical authority on near-death experiences and is
president of the British branch of The International Association
for Near-Death Studies. He also holds appointments at the Maudsley
Hospital, the John Radcliffe Hospital, and the Broadmoor Special
Hospital for Violent Offenders.
Elizabeth Fenwick has written a number of books on health and
family issues. She has produced books on pregnancy and child
care, worked as an agony aunt advising on sexual problems on radio
and in Company magazine and has been involved in sex education in
two London schools. She also worked for three years as a
counsellor for Childline.
"Deathbed visions and coincidences are often classified as
supernatural phenomena and the stuff of bad late-night television.
But do such classifications do a disservice to the experiences of
the dying and the bereaved? Through lengthy oral histories of eerie
telepathic and paranormal phenomena, this book attempts to strip
away the stigma from analyzing the inexplicable —yet commonly
reported—odd incidences that accompany death—the "feeling of
unease," the visit from the dying. The authors argue that these
reported experiences must be studied, even if they deviate from
conventional understanding of the "real" or "normal." What if our
minds were wired in a way that has not yet been documented by
science? What if hospice workers were more open to the experiences
of the dying? Although the Fenwicks' exuberance frequently feels
naïve, the scores of testimonies—as well as Peter Fenwick's renown
as a neuropsychiatrist —do lend their queries credibility.
Ultimately, the authors demonstrate that it may be immaterial if
these stories are scientifically plausible since merely documenting
these incidences can heighten our understanding of the mind during
death and enhance our ability to comfort the dying and their
families." - Publishers Weekly, May 2008
Title in article about the book and authors in Daily Telegraph,
2008.
Reviewed in Clinical Medicine Journal of the Royal College of
Physicians of L, 1 April 2009
*Alex Paxton*
"The authors not only manage to show that it isn't always all bad,
but raise profound questions about the nature of consciousness." -
Journal of Consciousness Studies, December 2008.
"Elizabeth and Peter Fenwick have written an Ars Moriendi for our
age...illuminating and very moving...The book is highly
recommended, as death is something we all need to come to terms
with in order to live a full life." De Numine, Autumn 2009
*Marianne Rankin*
"...interesting because a contemporary issue is taken and dealt
with sensitively...The book's purposes are extensive, including
academic, personal interest or within a hospice setting where death
is ever-present. It refers to other books throughout which makes it
all the more effective for which-ever of the above it's utilized.
Moreover, despite the fact that the topics within the book are
personal, they are weighed up with both empathy and impartiality,
identifying with believers and non-believers alike." De Numine,
Autumn 2009
*Charlotte Deakin*
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