We are absolutely a death fearing society and in my travels, I have
been unsuccessful in finding a lot go evidence that exists to
contradict that. I believe that our modern medicinal techniques and
the advancement of medical science has led to the idea that some
feel they "can defeat death" or at least, delay it indefinitely. While
modern medical science has certainly extended life expectancy in
most of the world, one must always consider the fact that you can
beat death. In my profession, its also not just about the fear of death,
it is also the fear of letting a loved one go. There are many who don't
fear death at the same time and write down their final wishes in the
event they aren't in the mental capacity to make decisions on their
own. In healthcare, families will often undermine their loved ones
wishes by demanding heroic efforts be done even when their loved
ones do not want it as well as the fact it may be medically futile.
I believe the reason we continue to focus on youth and beauty is
largely because of society and our culture. We want to "live forever"
and we justifiably want to be saved in the event of a major incident
or event. We also live in a society where in order to be viewed as a
contributing member, you have to have youthful abilities and be able
to hav proactive changes that are naturally evolving in the modern
society. Social media plays a role with that as well as the ability to
have cosmetic surgeries. In fact, anecdotally, cosmetic surgery is a
growing industry because older populations can utilize filters on
social media to preview their procedures. I found this idea terrifying
and disturbing. We as a society have set unrealistic expectations on
appearance and death. Our older population must understands this in
a healthy way.
Oates, Julianne R. “Death and Dying.” StatPearls [Internet]., U.S.
National Library of Medicine, 30 Aug.
2021, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK536978/
.
