Deck 19: Dying and Death

Question 1

How did the American attitude toward death and dying change from before the early 1900s to the present?

A) Death and dying were gradually removed from the responsibility of families.
B) Families became more involved in the responsibilities around death and dying.
C) Families became more superstitious in their attitudes about death and dying.
D) There have been no changes in attitudes about death and dying.

Answer 1

Death and dying were gradually removed from the responsibility of families.

Question 2

Dr. Morris believes that it is inadequate for death to be only pain and trauma free. She believes that people suffering from a terminal illness should be able to select the particular style of exit they believe is consistent with their total lifestyle, such as a romantic death, a brave death, or one that integrates and confirms the person's unique identity. Dr. Morris subscribes to the quest for:

A) "healthy dying"
B) "meaningful death"
C) "happy dying"
D) "death with decorum"

Answer 2

"healthy dying"

Question 3

While some people hold the view that it is a sin to hasten a person's death or to assist a suicide, others believe that a person is entitled to decide how and when they will die. These contrasting sentiments express the views debated in the:

A) thanatology debate
B) right-to-die movement
C) significant death debate
D) life preservation movement

Answer 3

right-to-die movement

Question 4

Which of the following is a legal, ethical, and sometimes controversial situation that allows a physician to choose to withhold life-prolonging treatment?

A) a newborn with meningomyelocele
B) a newborn weighing less than 1 pound 10 ounces with serious complications
C) a patient in an irreversible coma with confirmation of the diagnosis
D) all of these

Question 5

___________ euthanasia allows death to occur by withholding or removing treatments that would prolong life.

A) Passive
B) Involuntary
C) Voluntary
D) Active

Question 6

____________ euthanasia involves someone in the family or a legally empowered person deciding to withhold or remove medical treatments when the patient is medically considered brain dead.

A) Passive
B) Involuntary
C) Voluntary
D) Active

Question 7

____________ euthanasia involves the patient granting permission to remove treatments that would prolong life.

A) Passive
B) Involuntary
C) Voluntary
D) Active

Question 8

A legal document that states an individual's wishes regarding medical care (such as refusal of "heroic measures" to prolong his or her life in the event of terminal illness) in case the person becomes incapacitated and unable to participate in decisions about his or her medical care is known as a:

A) testament
B) living will
C) death wish
D) none of these

Question 9

In Oregon, which of the following is not a major factor in choosing physician-assisted suicide?

A) loss of autonomy
B) being ready to die
C) wanting control
D) being in pain

Question 10

Which of the following is the first step in Emanuel's Eight-Step Approach to the Patient Who Requests Physician Assisted Suicide?

A) assess for decision-making capacity
B) establish and treat root causes of request
C) engage in structural deliberation
D) assess for depression and treat if yes

Question 11

The survivors of a loved one's death most likely to feel isolated are those whose loved one:

A) died from AIDS
B) died in war
C) died from suicide
D) died by euthanasia

Question 12

Jenna has been talking to her friends about suicide and keeping a diary in which she writes about it. Jenna is:

A) attempting suicide
B) having suicide ideas
C) glorifying suicide
D) not serious about committing suicide

Question 13

Which of the following is a cultural attitude about suicide?

A) Only God can take a life.
B) The suicide victim is either insane or weak.
C) Suicide can be honorable under certain circumstances.
D) All of these are cultural attitudes toward suicide.

Question 14

More ____________ attempt suicide but more _____________ succeed at suicide.

A) males; females
B) females; males
C) elderly people; young people
D) young people; elderly people

Question 15

Which of the following ethnic groups has the highest suicide rate?

A) Native American
B) White American
C) Asian American
D) Hispanic American

Question 16

According to the statistics cited in your textbook, the fastest growing suicide rate is occurring among:

A) White women
B) young Hispanics
C) Asian men
D) Black women

Question 17

What do members of these professions: dentists, artists, machinists, auto mechanics, and carpenters, have in common?

A) lower than average suicide rates
B) rates equal to the average for suicide
C) higher than average suicide rates
D) none of these

Question 18

A person seeking hospice care would consent to which of the following?

A) heroic measures to save his or her life
B) the use of no medications whatsoever
C) medication if it increases comfort
D) the use of machines to sustain life

Question 19

The aggressive treatment of symptoms, both physical and emotional, through the use of psychological, religious, and nutritional counseling, antidepressant medications, and high-dose morphine preparations is called:

A) relief care
B) comfort care
C) allopathic care
D) respite treatment

Question 20

Which of the following statements is true of hospice?

A) Hospice is not so much a place as it is a program or a mode of care.
B) People under hospice care surrender control to medical staff.
C) The hospice approach is geared toward curing illness and prolonging life.
D) Hospice care is not covered by Medicare.

Question 21

_____________ occurs when the cortex and the thalamus no longer function.

A) Persistent vegetative state
B) Brain death
C) Stroke
D) Cerebral hemorrhage

Question 22

A patient who does not have the capability of emotional response, cognition, or willful activity, yet responds to some stimuli, such as light and noise, and has periods of sleep and wakefulness, is considered to be:

A) in a persistent vegetative state.
B) brain dead.
C) cognitively dead.
D) in a stimulus-responsive state.

Question 23

____________ is the attempt to relieve discomfort and may be given along with treatment for a disease.

A) Hospice care
B) Preservation of life care
C) Palliative care
D) A living will

Question 24

The practice of embalming bodies in the U.S.:

A) allowed loved ones to keep the body without burial
B) was used when Abraham Lincoln's body travelled 1,700 miles to be seen by about 30 million people.
C) is a modern practice started in the mid 1900s.
D) is only used by Christians who believe in different rituals based on the wealth and power of the deceased.

Question 25

The process of life review:

A) can arouse pathological expressions of guilt, self-deprecation, despair, and depression.
B) can be an aid in a person's adjustment to death.
C) is a continuation of personality development until death.
D) is or can be all of these.

Question 26

People who exhibited poorer cognitive performance, lower introspection orientation, and a less aggressive and more docile self-image on personality tests were likely experiencing:

A) death drop
B) mortality transition
C) demise
D) death shift

Question 27

According to a 2007 Gallup poll cited in your textbook, approximately how many people surveyed agreed that physician-assisted suicide should be allowed when a person has an incurable disease and is in great pain?

A) under one-third
B) three-quarters
C) fewer than half
D) more than half

Question 28

An estimated 7 million people have experienced an event commonly precipitated by medical illness, traumatic accident, surgical operation, childbirth, or drug ingestion, in which, after being pronounced clinically dead, they have the sensation of leaving their bodies and undergoing otherworldly experiences before being resuscitated. This is known as:

A) brain death
B) terminal drop
C) near-death experience
D) a spiritual awakening

Question 29

The typical report of individuals who have been resuscitated after having been pronounced clinically dead may include which of the following experiences?

A) floating above their bodies
B) traveling through a tunnel
C) seeing departed loved ones
D) all of these

Question 30

Which of the following statements is true of near-death experiences?

A) There is unanimous agreement about near-death experiences.
B) Some scientists believe anoxia can induce the sensations of near-death experiences.
C) Of those who have been resuscitated from death, none has ever reported having struggled with death.
D) Psychologists believe it is probably healthy to romanticize one's death.

Question 31

Because modern society has turned death over to be managed by large, bureaucratic organizations, it is more likely that:

A) we have less opportunity to learn and pass along the lessons of coping adequately with death.
B) the process of grieving will ultimately be made a good deal easier for the survivors of the deceased.
C) the families will be the ones who will have the responsibility of preparing the deceased for burial.
D) death has become a more personal matter.

Question 32

According to Elisabeth Kü bler-Ross, people in the process of dying:

A) all go through each of the five stages of dying
B) experience only one stage at a time
C) sometimes slip back and forth between stages
D) all go through the same experience of dying in the same way

Question 33

According to Kü bler-Ross, when medical personnel and the family attempt to hide the fact that a patient is dying:

A) it makes the process easier for the patient not to be preoccupied with dying.
B) it creates a barrier that prevents everyone from preparing for the death.
C) it leads to personal growth for both the patient and the patient's loved ones.
D) none of these

Question 34

When an individual resists acknowledging the reality of impending death, this refers to which of Kü bler-Ross' stages of dying?

A) anger
B) depression
C) denial
D) bargaining

Question 35

When a dying individual asks, "Why me?" and makes life difficult for friends, family, and medical personnel with little justification, this most likely refers to which of Kü bler-Ross' stages of dying?

A) anger
B) depression
C) denial
D) bargaining

Question 36

When a dying person begins to mourn his or her own approaching death, the loss of all the people and things that have been meaningful, and the plans and dreams never to be fulfilled, the person is experiencing what Kü bler-Ross refers to as:

A) depression
B) anger
C) acceptance
D) bargaining

Question 37

When a dying person begins to promise to do good in order to keep on living, the person is experiencing what Kü bler-Ross refers to as:

A) acceptance
B) depression
C) denial
D) bargaining

Question 38

Psychologist Robert Kastenbaum points out that Kü bler-Ross' theory neglects:

A) the psychological health of the dying person
B) the cognitive level of the dying person
C) the nature of the disease of the dying person
D) the family and support networks of the dying person

Question 39

According to the statistics cited in your textbook, for the majority of people in the United States, where does death occur?

A) at home
B) in a nursing home
C) in a hospital
D) in a hospice

Question 40

The state in which a person has been deprived of a relative or friend by death is known as:

A) grief
B) mourning
C) bereavement
D) anticipatory grief

Question 41

The keen mental anguish and sorrow over the death of a loved one is called:

A) grief
B) mourning
C) bereavement
D) anticipatory grief

Question 42

The socially established manner of displaying signs of sorrow over a person's death is known as:

A) grief
B) mourning
C) bereavement
D) anticipatory grief

Question 43

How does culture relate to grief work?

A) Cultural expectations have not been found to have any bearing on grief work.
B) Grief work is very similar across cultures.
C) Expressions of grief and mourning rituals can be therapeutic for survivors.
D) None of these is true.

Question 44

What is the reaction of many contemporary clinicians and psychologists to proverbs that state that it is better to show one's feelings of grief rather than hide them?

A) Such proverbs have no bearing on contemporary research findings.
B) These proverbs ring true.
C) It is actually better to conceal one's grief.
D) None of these is true.

Question 45

Which of the following statements is true regarding the consequences of grief for survivors?

A) They are more vulnerable to physical illness.
B) They are more vulnerable to mental illness.
C) They themselves are more vulnerable to death.
D) All of these statements are true.

Question 46

Which of the following statements concerning survivors of a loved one's suicide is true?

A) They may have a difficult time acknowledging that the death was a suicide.
B) They may feel that they are to blame for not seeing the warning signs.
C) They may feel that the person who committed suicide did not believe that they were worth living for.
D) All of these statements are true.

Question 47

Which of the following statements is true regarding the bereavement associated with the death of an adult's parents?

A) It is less difficult if the adult child provided care prior to the parent's death.
B) Men and women have similar emotional responses to the deaths of their fathers.
C) The bereavement accompanying a parent's death is a complex emotional, cognitive, and behavioral process.
D) All of these statements are true regarding bereavement accompanying a parent's death.

Question 48

The first phase of adult bereavement consists of:

A) pining, yearning, and depression
B) shock, numbness, denial, and disbelief
C) emancipation from the loved one and adjustment to new circumstances
D) identity reconstruction

Question 49

The second phase of adult bereavement consists of:

A) pining, yearning, and depression
B) shock, numbness, denial, and disbelief
C) emancipation from the loved one and adjustment to new circumstances
D) identity reconstruction

Question 50

The third phase of adult bereavement consists of:

A) pining, yearning, and depression
B) shock, numbness, denial, and disbelief
C) emancipation from the loved one and adjustment to new circumstances
D) identity reconstruction

Question 51

The fourth phase of adult bereavement consists of:

A) pining, yearning, and depression
B) shock, numbness, denial, and disbelief
C) emancipation from the loved one and adjustment to new circumstances
D) identity reconstruction

Question 52

According to the statistics cited in your textbook, what proportion of people who are widowed each year still suffer from serious depression a year or more later?

A) one-half
B) one-third
C) one-fourth
D) three-quarters

Question 53

Which of the following statements is true regarding older widowed men in the United States?

A) They seem to have more difficulty living alone than women.
B) They may have trouble cooking and caring for themselves.
C) They may develop feelings of loneliness and emptiness that lead to other problems.
D) All of these statements are true.

Question 54

Lopata found about half of the widows studied lived alone. The reasons given included which of the following?

A) They cherished their independence.
B) They felt inhibited about speaking up if living with an adult child.
C) They were concerned that if they did speak up while living with a child or grandchild, that person might be upset.
D) All of these statements apply.

Question 55

Which of the following is most likely to occur after the death of a child?

A) Parents will feel closer to each other.
B) After sudden infant death syndrome the parents will feel angry with medical services.
C) After death due to a cancer, parents may feel intensified grief during the second year.
D) After a miscarriage, parents are comforted by statements like, "This child wasn't meant to be."

Question 56

What is euthanasia and what are the different types (ways that it is enacted)?

Question 57

Describe what is meant by hospice care and what it entails.

Question 58

How has the nature of death and dying changed since the early part of the last century, and what are the implications of this change?