lit review 7

Although a common aspect of life, bereavement has been associated with a variety of
negative social, physical, and mental health outcomes, particularly anxiety. The stress of losing a loved one can be particularly difficult for bereaved children, especially those who have experienced the death of a parent. Most bereaved children experience low levels of anxiety, but a subset may experience very high levels of anxiety, which, if left untreated, can be risk marker for the development of future psychopathology. Unfortunately, there is a dearth of research examining potential predictors of anxiety among parentally bereaved children. This study examined the relations between individual (e.g., child coping, child religiosity) and environmental factors (parent coping style, parent religiosity), and level of child anxiety measured by child self-report. The sample consisted of 45 children ages 7 to 12 who experienced the death of a parent within 6 months of beginning the study and 35 of their surviving caregivers. Secondary data analysis utilized a linear mixed model to control for family effects. Results indicated that child age, child gender, child coping, child religiosity, and parent religiosity were all significantly related to child self-reported anxiety levels. These findings suggest the importance of both the parent’s and the child’s religiosity and coping in relation to child anxiety, and if replicated in a larger sample, may have critical implications for intervention efforts with bereaved youth.

Individual and Environmental Correlates of Anxiety in Parentally Bereaved Children Death is a universal aspect of humanity, yet the loss of a loved one may be one of the

most difficult and stressful events that one can experience in life. In fact, studies of grief among adult populations have found bereavement to be associated with a variety of serious negative health outcomes such as depression, suicidal ideation, mortality, overall lower quality of life, and anxiety problems (Byrne & Raphael, 1999; Grimby, 1993; Lichtenstein, Gatz, & Berg, 1998; Szanto et al., 2006). Given these findings, it is of particular concern that 3.4% of children in the United States experience the death of one or both parents before the age of 18 (U.S. Bureau of the Census, 2011). Although far fewer studies of bereaved children exist, the limited empirical research has found negative health outcomes similar to adults. For example, bereaved children have been shown to have higher levels of anxiety, depression, delinquency, dysphoria, and substance abuse compared to non-bereaved youth (Cerel, Fristad, Verducci, Weller, & Weller, 2006; Dowdney, 2000; Draper & Hancock, 2011; Kaplow, Saunders, Angold, & Costello, 2010; Weller, Weller, Fristad, & Bowes, 1991). In fact, one study found that one in five parentally bereaved children develops a psychiatric disorder (Dowdney, 2000). However, these findings are primarily among clinical samples (Cerel et al., 2006; Dowdney, 2000).

Relevance :

Moreover, although the hypothesis that parent coping strategies would be significantly associated with total child anxiety was not supported by the study findings, results did indicate that the use of denial as a parent coping strategy is significantly related to child physical anxiety symptoms. Also, it is important to note that parent denial was marginally related to total child anxiety and may have achieved significance in a larger sample. Thus, these findings suggest that the use of denial as a coping strategy by surviving parents may lead to higher anxiety and particularly somatic complaints among bereaved children. Perhaps a surviving caregiver’s denial of the death or the circumstances surrounding it may cause a bereaved child to be confused and anxious about the reality of their parent’s death. Moreover, surviving caregiver denial might model to a child that talking or thinking about the death is unacceptable. As a result, a child may express their anxieties through somatic complaints to avoid speaking or thinking about them. Furthermore, the relation between acceptance and lower total child anxiety was marginally significant, as was the relation between acceptance and lower child social anxiety. This suggests that the open acceptance of the death of a parent by a surviving caregiver may ease a child’s overall anxiety and their anxieties about interacting with others. Perhaps this is because children would be more comfortable accepting the death themselves or discussing the death with peers after having similar behavior modeled by their parents. The significance of these findings may have been limited by the study sample size. 

source : Damiac Pdf

lit review 6

Do young Chinese need death education?

A 6-year-old girl asks after watching a movie with her mother, "Mom, will I die?" The mother immediately replies angrily, "Shut up! Little girls should never mention death. It's bad luck!"

"In this case, the mother lost an important chance to explain to her daughter about the meaning of life and death, which could have also been a lesson on safety," said Yuan Ailing, a preschool education professor at South China Normal University.

This mother, like any other parent in China, may not see it as an appropriate question from a child. They believe it's such a heavy and horrible issue that it may inhibit healthy development of a child's views on life.

"It's not necessary to give a lesson on death to primary school students, and basic knowledge about health is enough for them," said Xia Xueluan, a renowned Chinese sociologist.

"But in college, students are adults and need proper education to teach them not to take the easy way out and cherish life," Xia added.

But in a society where talking about death is taboo, China's suicide incidents sporadically reported in the media prompt strong responses and debates. Last year, a string of suicides involved nine workers at Foxconn, an electronics contractor, in about half a year.

Still, some scholars say China's suicide rate is not alarming when compared with other countries. Jing Jun, a sociologist at Tsinghua University, put his calculation of China's suicide rate in 2004 at about 0.01 percent and 0.007 percent in 2009, which were both lower than the world average. （http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/opinion/2010-11/11/content_11532044.htm）

But statistics released by the Beijing Suicide Research and Prevention Center in 2007 showed that more than 287,000 people end their own lives every year on the Chinese mainland. According to the report, suicide was the leading cause of death for people aged 15 to 34. (http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2007-09/11/content_6095710.htm)

"The point of providing education on death-related issues is to tell people about the meaning of life and urge them to extend the length of their life, during a time when the risk of losing life exists every minute," said Zou Yuhua, a professor and lecturer on death education at the Public Health School of Guangdong Pharmaceutical University.

Zou, an advocate for death education for all ages, told chinadaily.com.cn that the high suicide rate in China is related to society's lack of attention to death education.

"Lack of study and educators in this field have led to difficulty in China in infusing correct views on death into school curriculum to fend off bad influence from negative content in entertainment activities such as playing unhealthy video games," Zou said.

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lit review 5

Teacher urges inclusion of death education in curriculum

Education on death, a core part of education on life and living, can help people become less worried or anxious about death, develop a rational thinking of death as a natural ending of everything in the world, and improve their quality of life, said Dong Changhong, a teacher at Jinhua High School in East China’s Chengdu city.

"I believe it is very necessary to promote education on death in China because Confucianism tries to avoid the discussion of death and Chinese people, although we highly value the affection and goodwill of people, cannot calmly face disasters and death if we look at the trauma suffered from the Wenchuan Earthquake in 2008."

The teacher recommended promoting values of humanitarian care, death and living through initiatives in education, such as adding courses or encouraging exposure to death-related topics in the curriculum at elementary and middle schools.

But she also thought it a difficult mission in China because Chinese culture traditionally shies away from anything related to death—even the number 4 is disliked, because it is pronounced similarly to the Chinese word for death.

China’s education system is still examination-oriented and the student performance mechanism remains unchanged, so parents and students still regard passing exams as the most important goal of schooling, Dong Changhong added.

Dong considered Japan a good example on the practice of death education, thanks to the publications there on disaster and death. In her opinion, Japanese people appeared to be remarkably calm despite the earthquake, tsunami and nuclear radiation crisis.

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lit review 4

"education on death leads to better life"

Have you imagined what it will look like when your Judgment Day falls and you are about to bid farewell to the world? Fearful, anxious? What does death really mean?

In Chinese culture, these topics have at most times been considered taboo as no one would talk openly about the issue. Referring to death, people seldom use the word "death," but will use substitute words like "pass away," and "part forever."

But the fact is, people die.

To 26-year-old doctor Yang Zhaoyi, who studied medical science for five years and works at a hospital in Xinyang city of Central China's Henan province, death is nothing to be feared, but the end of organs' function and metabolism.

And the ticking clock, which reminds people that their time is passing, is an inspiration for people to cherish life, to study and work harder and realize the value of life, Yang told chinadaily.com.cn.

Born and raised in typical Chinese culture, Yang is no exception in being both reverent and fearful of death when he was a teenager.

His fear of death diminished as his knowledge grew, and by the time he decided to study medical science, he'd already gained enough knowledge to realize "death is one of the most common natural phenomena."

"When facing death now, I have no fear but pity for the loss of life. And I also feel sorry that current technology can do nothing to hold back one's life from death," said Yang, whose job gives him frequent chances to witness life vanish.

"There will be one day when I come to the end of my time, but I will face it with ease and treat it as my return to nature," he said.

Yang's openness toward death comes with his identity as a doctor who had received education on mortality in college.

"It is quite inhumane for a person to die without getting rid of the fear of death and die in great pain," Yang said, adding that education on death is important not only for the living but for the dying.

For the dying, the education will help them alleviate pain and say a final goodbye to the world peacefully; and for the relatives, it will make them accept the fact death is natural, Yang said.

He said death education is important not only in medical schools but also in non-medical ones, while admitting the task will be hard to fulfill due to the deep-rooted influence of Chinese culture.

"But I am sure more and more people would accept death education as their educational level improves and Chinese and Western cultures interact," Yang said.

His ideas were echoed by professionals and students in the medical field.

"As a doctor, I feel quite sorry at witnessing the vanishing of life," said Yu Yanbing, head of the neurosurgery department at Beijing-based China-Japan Friendship Hospital and a professor at Peking University Health Science Center.

"But you have to accept the fact that it is a natural phenomenon and treat it with ease," he said, adding that education on death is key to people's openness to the topic.

"I am sure lessons on death, if there are any, will be quite popular on campuses," said Yu Bing, a postgraduate student majoring in medical science at Zhengzhou University in Central China's Henan province, while adding that such education is far from enough.

Yu and Guo Yue, a graduate student from Xinxiang Medical University in Henan, both said they didn't take special lessons on death and their knowledge about the topic was mainly from other medical courses, which enabled them to stay calm while witnessing life vanish.

"Death education is quite necessary in China," Yu said. "But that should not start at an early age, because the topic may frighten a child and leave some bad impressions on his or her mind."

"I suggest educating adults, who are above 18 years old, on death," he said. He was echoed by Yang, who also thinks death education should be for adults, especially college students.

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sketch which i rejected because i just didnt liked how it looked.

death personified by many tiny creatures 

more drawings coming up ! - may be alittle slow because my phone died and my phone is my camera.

Danse Macabre

The Danse Macabre consists of the dead or personified Death summoning representatives from all walks of life to dance along to the grave, typically with a pope, emperor, king, child, and labourer. They were produced to remind people of the fragility of their lives and how vain were the glories of earthly life.

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The physical impossibility of death in the mind of someone living

Damien Hirst

The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living

1991

Glass, painted steel, silicone, monofilament, shark and formaldehyde solution

2170 x 5420 x 1800 mm | 85.5 x 213.4 x 70.9 in

Sculpture

Formaldehyde

Image: Photographed by Prudence Cuming Associates © Damien Hirst and Science Ltd. All rights reserved, DACS 2012

Why is so much of Hirst’s work about death? “It’s every artist’s main theme,” he says. “There isn’t really anything else. It just depends how far you stand back from it. Since I was a child, death is definitely something that I think about every day. But I think that everybody does. You try and avoid it, but it’s such a big thing that you can’t.

“That’s the frightening thing, isn’t it? It’s like everything you do in life is pointless if you just take a step back and look at it.”

Yet Hirst doesn’t think that art about death has to be morbid. “The difference between art about death and actual death is that one’s a celebration and the other’s a dull fact. For instance, if you get Morrissey singing a song about a girlfriend leaving him, everybody will buy the record; whereas if you get a guy at a party talking about his girlfriend leaving him, nobody wants to talk to him.

“That’s the difference between art and life. You can frighten people with death or an idea of their own mortality, or it can actually give them vigour, and they can go away and appreciate their lives more. I’m going to teach my children how to find the good things in life without being afraid of the finality of it.”

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