Staring Death In The Face

Written in Irvin Yalom’s inimitable story-telling style, Staring at the Sun is a profoundly encouraging approach to the universal issue of mortality. In this magisterial opus, capping a lifetime of work and personal experience, Dr Yalom helps us recognise that the fear of death is at the heart of much of our day-to-day anxiety. This reality is often brought to the surface by an 'awakening experience' — a dream, a loss (such as the death of a loved one, a divorce, or the loss of a job or home), illness, trauma, or ageing. Once we confront our own mortality, Dr Yalom writes, we are inspired to rearrange our priorities, communicate more deeply with those we love, appreciate more keenly the beauty of life, and increase our willingness to take the risks necessary for personal fulfillment. This is a book with tremendous utility, including the provision of techniques for dealing with the most prevalent kinds of fears of death — especially by living in the here and now, and by embracing what Dr Yalom calls ‘rippling’, the influence and impact we all have that has a life beyond our own.

This is a real-life account of a family dealing with anorexia of one of its own. Sarah nearly died. She could have died at any time as her body had begun to shut down. The local medical services said that they had never come across anyone with such a low body mass index (weight) as hers. Sarah was heard screaming out as her body began to close down at death’s door. But by the grace of God, she miraculously survived. The events are chronicled by the author, Sarah’s father; plus there is a very poignant additional contribution portrayal through the eyes of her sister Olivia too — together these sections paint the picture of what this family had to endure and complement each other. This is a book which I am sure you will find hard to put down and will educate you not only as far as the illness of anorexia is concerned but also in seeing how it can be transcended.

Danny Smith is on a mission: to find Death - and have a word. He's lost, nearly forty, without his partner, and surrounded by bin bags full of his clothes in his parents' spare room. Mourning not only the loss of the most important person in his life, but also the only future he ever really planned, his thoughts turn to death. If he's going to start his life over, he may as well start at the end and work back. Find Death and become, if not friends, then at least on nodding terms. It's not a good plan, but it's the only one he's got. Danny decides to stalk Death to Mexico. Home of The Day Of The Dead Festival, Santa Muerte the patron saint of drug dealers and the dispossessed, and a bloody cartel drug war that's been going since the 80s. Death seems to be big over there. The trail will take him to ancient temples, vibrant bustling markets, white sands, with weird tourists, and a neon blur of excess. Can he find his love of life now the love of his life has gone? "Dumped and desperate, Danny Smith goes hunting for death to understand life. This is the heart of Gonzo given an electric shock; writing about the Grim Reaper has no right to be so vividly alive." Mic Wright PRAISE FOR DANNY'S PREVIOUS BOOK, PIER REVIEW: "think Dave Allen wired on hard liquor" "A wonderful slab of narrative non-fiction"

This is a real-life account of a family dealing with anorexia of one of its own. Sarah nearly died. She could have died at any time as her body had begun to shut down. The local medical services said that they had never come across anyone with such a low body mass index (weight) as hers. Sarah was heard screaming out as her body began to close down at death's door. But by the grace of God, she miraculously survived. The events are chronicled by the author, Sarah's father; plus there is a very poignant additional contribution portrayal through the eyes of her sister Olivia too - together these sections paint the picture of what this family had to endure and complement each other. This is a book which I am sure you will find hard to put down and will educate you not only as far as the illness of anorexia is concerned but also in seeing how it can be transcended.

A revelatory short memoir from the author and Zen Buddhist priest Ruth Ozeki about how her face has shaped and been shaped by her life

"Occasionally I read a book and say to myself that this is a book that I wished I had written. This is such a book! It is a delightful, practical, interesting, and inspiring book! Danai has written a soon-to-be classic in the field! Her writing is excellent! Her use of theories, concepts, history, and models are wonderful!"--Illness, Crisis and Loss "Danai PapadatouÖ[presents] an approach of Relational Care, care based on an understanding of relationships, that should be essential readingÖ.[S]he writes in an engaging and non-technical language, and manages to convey complex ideas in a manner that is accessible to all." --Colin Murray Parkes, OBE, MD, FRCPsych President, Cruse: Bereavement Care (From the Foreword) ì[A] wonderful contribution to the literature on caregiving and her well thought out ideas about relational caregiving are on the cutting edge. Congratulations.î -- Lynne Ann DeSpelder CoAuthor, The Last Dance: Encountering Death and Dying, 8th edition "This is no ordinary academic textbook. It is nothing short of a masterpiece in which Papadatou provides the field of death, dying and bereavement with invaluable and constructive insights into the world of caring for the dying and bereaved."--Grief Matters "This is a fascinating book, applying important theoretical modelsÖin order to describe and speculate about how professionals manage to work in an environment where suffering and grief are constantly present. This is an important and substantial addition to the mostly self-help literature about self-care for caregivers."--Doody's Medical Reviews In the Face of Death explores the experiences of health care professionals who care for the seriously ill, the dying, and the bereaved. In this book, Danai Papadatou offers a practical approach to caregiving, as well as a breadth and depth of insight into both the patient's and the caregiver's responses to death. The author discusses the issues and challenges health care professionals face when treating dying and bereaved patients. Topics include: compassion fatigue, the inevitability of suffering and the potential for growth, suffering in the workplace, team functioning in death situations, and team resilience. The main themes are: The Caring Relationship focuses on the relationship between the care provider and the person who is dying or grieving, and proposes a new, relationship-based model of care The Care Provider in Death Situations addresses the health professional's personal responses to death, using a model that illustrates the grieving process of the health professional The Team in the Face of Death provides recommendations for effective, interdisciplinary care services that support dying or bereaved patients as well as the health care provider

In this new volume, death is treated both as a threat to meaning and as an opportunity to create meaning.

In this moving and compassionate classic—now updated with new material from the authors—hospice nurses Maggie Callanan and Patricia Kelley share their intimate experiences with patients at the end of life, drawn from more than twenty years’ experience tending the terminally ill. Through their stories we come to appreciate the near-miraculous ways in which the dying communicate their needs, reveal their feelings, and even choreograph their own final moments; we also discover the gifts—of wisdom, faith, and love—that the dying leave for the living to share. Filled with practical advice on responding to the requests of the dying and helping them prepare emotionally and spiritually for death, Final Gifts shows how we can help the dying person live fully to the very end.