Many people fear death. Just the thought of it makes people really scared. Many people see death as an end to everything—end of their relationships with their love ones and separation to their wealth and happiness. Our lifestyle here on earth makes people so attached to this world and fear death. Just as we have researchers who study life, there are also researchers who study the science of death. Thanatology is the study of death. It comes from the Greek words thanatos and logos meaning death and study, respectively. Thanatologists are those persons who are involved in thanatology.
(Cengage, 2006) Discussion What thanatologists study includes the cause(s) of death, and legal and social matters concerning it. They are also interested in the customs during burials and social attitudes such as grief. In identifying the cause of death, thanatologists might look at the following angle: Is it natural death such as old age and illness? Is it accidental death such as vehicle mishap? Is it cause by a criminal action such as murder? Or is it suicide? For legal matters, thanatologists could help the family decide where to reside the remains.
For the social matters, thanatologists study human behavior regarding dealing with death. (Cengage, 2006) In the Bible, death is the transition to the eternal life. Death in reality will separate us from this world. The end of one’s life on earth is the start of his or her life in eternity. But this is another story. Let’s focus on the study of death. In the event that someone has died, the family of the deceased person is called the survivor. These survivors are the ones who suffered the grief and the lost of their departed loved one.
For this very reason thanatologists are also concerned on social attitudes and issues relating to death. They study the behavior of the survivors in order to help them recover from their distressing situation—the death of someone they once loved. Suicide is one of the causes of someone’s death. It is killing oneself intentionally. People who had committed suicide had distressing amount of emotional problems. They could no longer carry on their problems and thus ending their lives in attempt to escape the problem. Unfortunately, bigger problems could arise. The survivors are left grieving for their lost.
They are confused and find it hard to accept that someone they love just committed suicide. The moment the news of the suicide reaches the survivors, normally, they are unprepared. Unlike when the death is caused by a natural death, survivors are expecting that in any moment, their love ones would leave them. They have time to prepare before their love ones die. Survivors of suicidal deaths are not prepared for this kind of death. Many thoughts play into their minds. Who or what triggered him or her to commit suicide? Why did he or she commit suicide? What are his or her problems?
These are just few of the questions the survivors have to settle with themselves in order to accept the fate of their loved ones. Survivors of suicidal deaths grieved. Some might become depressed because of the situation. Some might have recovered fast than others. Add to their down casted emotions the condolences of the people mourning with them. Normally, people who mourn with the survivors would ask, “Why did it happen? ” “What are his or her problems? ” In this line of questioning, the survivors are obligated to narrate what happened. They are to tell the mourners how the suicide was committed.
This is very excruciating for the part of the survivors because in most cases, they have not recovered yet from the death of their loved ones. During the wake of the departed, the survivors feel their absence the most causing them to grieve more. In fact, even after the wake, when the dead is already buried, survivors continue to grieve because they are burdened with the true reason suicide was committed. Dr. Alan D. Wolfelt is a thanatologists. He has published an article about “Helping a Survivor Heal. ” Dr. Alan had devised a way on how to help survivors of suicidal deaths. Examples are as follows: (Wolfelt, 2008)