LIFE SPAN DEVELOPMENT

Life Span Development

Case study

Life Span Development

1. Case study

The Isabella and Victor family case study

2. Summary of the chapter

Dying and death are dyadic events involving both the dying/dead and the survivors-to-be/bereaved. The quality of death, for instance, affects the quality of grief. Society does not grant the bereavement status to all experiencing the loss of a significant social bond, even though these may be every bit as profound and grief-inducing for the survivor.

Dealing with dying involves understanding what is expected of the dying, the stages dying people go through, the needs and tasks of the dying, the conditions under which people should be permitted to die, and factors in the care of the dying. (Aldridge, D. 1993)

Isabella is going through a stage of realization about life death and the importance of life. Victor's loss is irrepairable for the whole family but the children want to move further with their lives. Although some day they will end up the same way, they want to have the best for the mean time. The family is avoiding to share thoughts with Isabella. Making her feel more lonely and hopeless about life. Although not deliberately but they do not want to discuss more about sadness. Many people really never have to face disruption in their lives due to the aging process. They are able to stay in their homes, die in their beds, and life goes on.

3. Literature Review

The process of dying is one of the great stages of learning of the human soul, often met with fear and resistance, yet even in the presence of these, filled with the growth of the soul in its appreciation of its relationship to life.

There is no one way to experience dying so that it produces the maximum amount of growth. For some, the sense of flow from one aspect of life to another is intuitively felt, even if nothing in the earlier stages of life has been articulated as a spiritual belief about the afterlife. For others, there is a well-defined understanding and sometimes experience of the continuity of life, so that apart from the pain or discomfort that may be present during the final stage of physical life, there is no fear. For still others, there is a sense of confusion about the end of life - a perplexity about anticipating non-existence. (Graves, S. 1994)Often, the idea of death has been imposed on the psyche from the past and includes the notion that there is a kind of black-out of consciousness in which everything ends. And yet, even though this may make sense to the mind, it is perplexing to the heart which cannot comprehend such an idea.

Over and over again, a person who is trying to make sense of the experience of dying is pondering the question of what happens next, whether they are actively doing so in a conscious way or not. It is the main question of the last stage of life for many, especially for ...