Death is our most repressed consciousness, it inheres our condition as the primordial fear. Perhaps it was necessary that this angst be repressed in man or he would be hurled against the dark forces of nature. Modern ethos was built on this edifice, where the 'denial of death' while 'embracing one's symbolic immortality' would be worshipped, so this ideology simply overturned and repressed...
Sometimes, people coming into specialist palliative care units unexpectedly improve with simple, compassionate care. Is this a mystery? Or does compassion directly affect human biology in ways we are only just beginning to understand? There is a widespread belief that kindness and compassion matter. They are what we would want for ourselves, or our loved ones; central, across religions and...
Objective: The aim of this paper is to present and critically appraise the evidence for the use of mindfulness-based interventions in cancer care. Methods: Systematic review methods were used. A thorough search of relevant major and specialised electronic databases was made and unpublished and ongoing work was also identified. Both qualitative and quantitative studies were eligible for...
Magic Mushrooms and Cancer TherapyA study at New York University has found that the controlled use of psychedelic drugs can help doctors treat cancer anxiety and posttraumatic stress disorder."I think it made me more aware of what was so important and what was making me either sad or depressed.I think it was revelatory, " said a participant of the study.The therapy aims to help patients enrich...
This study contributes to the development of a theological phenomenology of vocation. In so doing, it posits that the distressing condition of existential unrest can be a foundational motivation for the vocational search and argues that the discovery of one's vocation, which necessarily entails an engagement with existential mystery, is served by attentiveness to what is termed the...
Health care professionals report a lack of skills in the psychosocial and spiritual aspects of caring for dying people and high levels of moral distress, grief, and burnout. To address these concerns, the "Being with Dying: Professional Training Program in Contemplative End-of-Life Care" (BWD) was created. The premise of BWD, which is based on the development of mindfulness and receptive...
Traditional medical systems are challenging because their theories and practices strike many conventionally trained physicians and researchers as incomprehensible. Should modern medicine dismiss them as unscientific, view them as sources of alternatives hidden in a matrix of superstition, or regard them as complementary sciences of medicine? We make the latter argument using the example of...
Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) is prevalent in patients with advanced cancer, and can have a negative impact on patients' quality of life. Available antidepressants, often have delayed benefits of several weeks, and therefore are of limited utility in the palliative care setting. Psychostimulants provide more rapid onset of action, but frequently require dose escalation because of problems...
We present a body of evidence for love medicine, originating in the shamanic physical/spiritual healing arts, embodying end-of-life (EOL) palliation through relationships of loving, artful witness between caregivers and receivers. We base the conclusions of our professional (doctor) and familial (spouse) practices on the practitioner/research methodology, Appreciative Inquiry , focused on...