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What Does It Feel Like to Die?: Inspiring New Insights into the Experience of Dying by [Jennie Dear]

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Jennie Dear

What Does It Feel Like to Die?: Inspiring New Insights into the Experience of Dying Kindle Edition

by Jennie Dear (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

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4.3 on Goodreads

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A compassionate, honest, and illuminating look at the dying process . . .

As a long-time hospice volunteer, Jennie Dear has helped countless patients, families, and caregivers cope with the many challenges of the dying process. Inspired by her own personal journey with her mother’s long-term illness, Dear demystifies the experience of dying for everyone whose lives it touches. She spoke to doctors, nurses, and caregivers, as well as families, friends, and the patients themselves. The result is a brilliantly researched, eye-opening account that combines the latest medical findings with sensitive human insights to offer real emotional support and answers to some of the questions that affect us all.

Does dying hurt?
A frank discussion of whether dying has to be painful—and why it sometimes is even when treatment is readily available.

Is there a better way to cope with dying?
Comforting stories of people who found peace in the face of death , and some of the expert methods they used for getting there.

The last few hours: What does it feel like to die?
Powerful glimpses from dedicated professionals into the physical experiences of people in their final moments—plus comforting words and insights from those who are there to help.

Print length

229 pages
Language

English
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Publisher

Citadel Press
Publication date

June 25, 2019
File size

421 KB
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"Hospice volunteer Dear pieces together the experience of dying in this affecting work . What sets this apart from the many other well-sourced books on the end of life is Dear's generosity and forthrightness. Readers curious about or ready to accept death will find solace and inspiration in this excellent investigation."
-Publishers Weekly STARRED REVIEW

About the Author

Jennie Dear is a former journalist and associate professor of English, and a long-time hospice volunteer. She received her Ph.D. from the University of New Mexico, wrote articles for local newspapers, and taught for ten years at Fort Lewis College in Durango. --This text refers to the paperback edition.

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B07HVV24S8
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Citadel Press (June 25, 2019)
Publication date ‏ : ‎ June 25, 2019
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 421 KB
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
Print length ‏ : ‎ 229 pages

Best Sellers Rank: #965,646 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #77 in Physician & Patient Hospice Care
- #191 in Occult Near-Death Experiences
- #512 in Near-Death Experiences (Books)

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27 ratings

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Jennie Dear

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Jennie Dear is a writer in Durango, Colorado. She combines her past experiences as a journalist and an English professor to delve into current issues. Her recent book, "What Does it Feel Like to Die?," (Kensington Publishing, June 2019) was inspired in part by her years of volunteering with hospice. The book is based on interviews with researchers, caregivers, and patients, as well as on her own observations.

Dear also co-wrote with Faron Scott "The Responsible Journalist: An Introduction to News Reporting and Writing" (Oxford University Press, 2014), a book that focuses on critical and ethical thinking as it teaches basic news reporting skills.

Customer reviews

4.3 out of 5

27 global ratings

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4 star		21%
3 star		11%
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1 star		7%

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Kindle Customer

Hand on my shoulder

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on May 8, 2022

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Enjoyed this study tremendously. I too am sitting with my mom in hospice and like many-- trying to understand this process she's almost completed. The grief is a mountain ahead..but at least the fear for her is lessened with these facts. Thank u -- I thank u so much Jennie

Helpful

Maurice Frank

Outstanding Clear Explanation of What Happens When We Die

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on April 9, 2020

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I found this book to be one of the clearest and most comprehensive explanations of what happens to the body and the person when dying is in process. The author provides countless insights sourced from both personal experience with people she cared for as a hospice volunteer and supported by research findings. I strongly recommend this book for anyone with a terminal diagnosis and also for families and caregivers. The range of topics covered was very broad, yet the chapters were also quite substantive.

Helpful

Amazon Customer NanaNancy

Caregivers: Concise review of the slide towards death.

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on January 28, 2020

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Should be mandatory reading for palliative and hospice caregivers. Contains knowledge for reassuring terminal patients and their family/friends as the non-negotiable end looms.

2 people found this helpful

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Bonny

Very informative

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on September 11, 2019

Verified Purchase

Well written and straight forward account of the death process from a professional standpoint. Really put things in perspective.

4 people found this helpful

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Allan G. Kern

No profound insights or practical advice here.

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on August 18, 2019

Verified Purchase

No profound insights or practical advice here, which is a shame, because many people in modern society are often shielded from things like death of family and neighbors at home, and could probably use some insight and advice.

3 people found this helpful

Helpful

Jamie Bee

Scientific and Practical Guide to Death and Dying

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on September 14, 2019

As an RN who has seen death firsthand, I was curious about what this book had to offer. The author is a hospice volunteer, so she does have some viable personal insights into death and dying, and she has gone further and talked with medical professionals, some of whom specialize in palliative care, and studied current research into death and dying. She also shares some of her personal experience in dealing with her own mother's death. If one is up for reading the science, I believe that this book would be helpful for those who are newly diagnosed with a terminal illness and for family members touched by such. The book not only looks at the physical aspect dying process itself (insofar as we can know it) but also at coping with it and getting your affairs in order. You’ll learn a little about the hospice system, which is not as well understood as it could be.

I feel like the book should have actually been several books: one just for the person who is dying, one for family members, one for caregivers, and one that speaks directly to the science of it all. At times, this book does feel like it is trying to be too much to too many types of people, so a specialized set of books would be more helpful. For instance, I believe that a simplified, well-organized version would be fantastic for the person who is actually dying, stressing the situations so they will run across in the physical aspect as well as the mental and financial preparation.

I find myself wondering at the statistic that she gave in the beginning, that 90% of us will die after living with a disease for days, weeks, or years. I don't quite buy that, or at least, wouldn’t put it that way. Life is terminal; we will all die. Chronic diseases give one a higher chance for mortality but don't necessarily cause death directly. After all, say, a person with high blood pressure doesn't necessarily die from it even if they've lived with it for years. Sometimes death is sudden, like in a car crash. However, often it is more of an aggregate of certain factors: age, general health, and chronic diseases (co-morbidities) than a specific terminal illness.

All in all, though, I do you think this is a very helpful book for those involved in the dying process. you may want to cherry-pick your way through, picking the nuggets that apply to you and your situation.

I received a free copy of this book, but that did not affect my review.

2 people found this helpful

Helpful

Helton

Answers the question to the best that we can figure; lots more, too

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on June 25, 2019

It's hard to pass up a book with a title like this--c'mon, everyone would like to know what it's like (that doesn't work around it often). Dear asks the same questions you do, and wanted to know what science says about it, how those who've had careers in the field can contribute to the subject matter (consistencies, myths, etc.), so, ultimately, we can do one or more of the following: Approach death with a less fear, understand the process for the benefit of ourselves and others, and to work to stop the suppression of the inevitable event in our minds, as if its some kind of taboo. I'm sure I'm just scratching the surfaces of what one *could* do with the information in this book.

You're likely to start reading with an expectation that the feelings encompassing one's final moments are all that's spoken about here, but there's a bit extra: A decent portion of the book is dedicated to helping us readers understand coping mechanisms for death, a brief education on the current status of the Hospice system (along with nursing homes), how to prepare (the best that you can, of course) for your own death, and much, much more.

It might seem macabre to go ahead and think about getting your affairs in order, but, when you think about it (and Dear certainly helps to illustrate this), *not* doing so is the more ludicrous action. The experience of death, as experiences are wont to be, are not one-dimensional, nor can they be brief. The flux one could experience when facing their last moments, whether that be over the course of hours or years, but there are similarities, and schooling yourself as much as possible on what lies ahead might well prove to be beneficial to someone--whether that's you or not.

So yes, the book does certainly tackle the subject of what your body is likely experiencing when you're actively dying (a "good death", as is described here), but there's a lead-up to it, a buy-in, if you will (other than the buy-in you already did by purchasing the book), of interesting and, at times, captivating words on how we embrace this process with optimum dignity, peace, information, consideration, and reverence.

It calls to the forefront some serious consideration on how deeply we burrow ourselves into our daily schedules, commonly out of touch with the fact that we are alive and kicking for a seriously limited time. Dear's work beckons us to consider (and enjoy) our existence on our own time, before some unfortunate affair forces us to do so.

Many thanks to NetGalley, Kensington Books, and Citadel for the advance read.

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