Death is no enemy

Death is no enemy 
Psychiatric Times; by Sidney Zisook, MD; 9/17/24
... As mental health clinicians, we often confine our conversations about death and dying to recognizing suicide risk and preventing suicide. And for good reason. Suicide is the 11th leading cause of death in the United States, ... Far less attention is paid by mental health clinicians to other aspects of death and dying. But we are human, first and foremost, and coping with a host of issues related to the end of life is inextricably bound to both our professional and personal lives. Like it or not, death is part of life. We, as mental health clinicians, are not always as prepared as we would like to be to help ourselves, our loved ones, our patients, and their loved ones deal with loss, dying, death, and bereavement. For many physicians, 1 or 2 hours in medical school and perhaps another few hours during residency are all the training we receive in these complex and challenging clinical issues. ...  Chochinov provides a clinician’s guide for “being with” dying patients. He offers ways of providing intensive caring to enhance empathy, respect, connectivity, and hope, and to make the experience of a dying patient more tolerable than it otherwise might be. ... I have utilized his Patient Dignity Question, which asks, “What do I need to know about you as a person to take the best care of you possible?” on several occasions with gratifying results for both the patient and me.
Editor's note: Chochinov's Patient Dignity Question bears repeating, “What do I need to know about you as a person to take the best care of you possible?” Use it. Explore its responses and results in the quality of care you provide and the quality of life the person experiences.