Finitude Of Life Research Articles

A sociology of existence for a late modern world. Basic assumptions and conceptual tools

AbstractIn the present article, we outline basic assumptions and conceptual tools for a sociology of existence. First, we address man's fundamental conditions of existence: that life's finitude and encounters with the uncertainty of existence are fundamental experiences that construct social relations. Second, we outline how existential meaning‐making and the ability to cope with the unpredictability of life are dependent on power resources, where especially the resource poor may experience ‘existential nausea’. Third, we discuss how existential dilemmas may intensify under certain historical eras. Therefore, studying individuals' existential dilemmas is a tool to examine the dominant social issues at a particular time and place. Fourth, we elaborate on the importance of studying turning points during individuals' life courses, as existential meaning – or lack thereof – becomes particularly salient at these times. This includes an understanding that death and rebirth are experienced in the form of various endings and beginnings in everyday life. Fifth, and finally, we emphasize an analysis in which the direction of people's lives is conceptualized in a broad time perspective, where past, present, and future interact and influence life choices and social relations constructed during a lifetime.

Finitude of life in a reference hospital for infectious diseases: a descriptive study

Background: Patients living with serious infectious diseases, such as infection by human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) or tuberculosis (TB), are candidates for palliative care from diagnosis to the advanced stage of the disease. There is a scarcity of studies on palliative care for infectious diseases. The purpose of this study was to describe the clinical and care aspects related to palliative care in patients with severe serious illness that occurs in a referral hospital for infectious diseases. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional, retrospective study of patients who died of severe advanced disease during hospitalization in a Brazilian reference hospital for infectious diseases from January 2017 to March 2018. We defined serious illness as a health condition that presented a high risk of mortality, and negatively affected a person’s daily function or quality of life, or overloaded their caregivers. Results: There were 95 deaths during this period, of which 77 (81%) were included for analysis. Forty-nine (63.6%) were male. The mean age was 56.3 years (SD 17.34). The average time from hospitalization to death was 8.15 (SD 15.67) days. Of the 77 patients, 24 (31.1%) had active TB, 37 (48%) had HIV infection, and 21 (27.2%) had advanced neoplasia. At the time of death, 49 (62.8%) were admitted to the ward, 8 (10.2%) to the emergency unit, and 21 (26.9%) to the ICU. At the time of death, 51 (63.5%) used vasoactive drugs, 49 (62.8%) used mechanical ventilation, 17 (21.7%) underwent hemodialysis, 56 (71.7%) had a central venous catheter, 55 (70.5%) had an indwelling urinary catheter, 59 (75.6%) were on enteral diet by nasoenteral tube or gastrostomy, and 58 (75.3%) received antibiotic therapy. At the time of death, only 10 (12.9%) patients used opioids to control symptoms of late life, such as pain and dyspnea. Conclusions: Assistance for suffering in patients with severe health conditions and finitude of life, even in a hospital unit specialized in infectious diseases, occurred to a limited extent. It is necessary to evaluate the benefits of a specialized service in palliative care in order to provide better assistance to patients with this profile.

Resignifying the Unexpected: Career Shocks and its Impacts on the Trajectories of Executive Women

Career shocks are extraordinary, unforeseen events that lead to individual reflections on personal and professional directions. The article aims to identify career shocks as drawn from narratives of 20 women, in corporate careers, who carried out transitions in their trajectories, and to understand how these shocks impact on the sustainability of careers in time. Focusing on female careers beyond motherhood, the interviewees had no children when they made the transition. The analysis revealed four shocks: Awareness on the finitude of life and resignification of trajectories, Focus on the balance between Work-Life after Harm to Physical and Mental Health, Transformative Experiences and Search for Sense, and the Covid-19 Pandemic’s impact on the working modes. These shocks boosted movements toward more sustainable trajectories, demonstrating that the subjective character of careers allows the positive valuation of experiences commonly considered negative. Career shocks, in addition to revealing opportunities, signaled restrictions in women’s career contexts.

Seizures as a Struggle between Life and Death: An Existential Approach to the Psychosocial Impact of Seizures in Candidates for Epilepsy Surgery

Introduction: Mental health comorbidities such as depression and anxiety are common in epilepsy, especially among people with pharmacoresistant epilepsy who are candidates for epilepsy surgery. The Psychology Task Force of the International League Against Epilepsy advised that psychological interventions should be integrated into comprehensive epilepsy care. Methods: To better understand the psychological impact of epilepsy and epileptic seizures in epilepsy surgery candidates, we analysed interviews with this subgroup of patients using Karl Jaspers’ concept of limit situations, which are characterised by a confrontation with the limits and challenges of life. These are especially chance, randomness, and unpredictability, death and finitude of life, struggle and self-assertion, guilt, failure, and falling short of one’s aspirations. Results: In 43 interviews conducted with 15 people with drug-resistant epilepsy who were candidates for epilepsy surgery, we found that these themes are recurrent and have a large psychosocial impact, which can result in depression and anxiety. For some people, epileptic seizures appear to meet the criteria for traumatic events. Conclusion: Understanding epilepsy and seizures as existential challenges complements the neurobiological explanations for psychological comorbidities and can help tailor psychological interventions to the specific needs of people with epilepsy, especially those who are candidates for surgical treatment.

The Metaphysical Problem of the Ontological Destiny of Man

Change according to Heraclitus is the only abiding substance observable in the universe. The implication of this view is that apart from change which remains the only constant thing, there is nothing that is held to be permanent. That is why life though relatively blissful, sooner or later is overtaken by death. Of course, death is always a dread to human conciousness. It is a phenomenon which man has always whished that it not be a reality. It is this facticity and the finitude of life that the writer intends to critically examine in this paper. With the methodological approach of critical reflection, he aimed at achieving the goal of the study which concludes that death is an inescapable phenomenon awaiting every single existent being, though not the end of existence.

The finitude of life—How mortality salience affects consumer behavior: A review

AbstractThe influence of mortality salience (MS) on consumer behavior has been well‐established over the last 25 years. However, research findings have provided divergent insights with regard to the direction of its outcomes. This article provides a systematic review of the extant research stream thereby revealing how the differences are primarily due to the conceptualization and operationalization of MS. Based on a conceptual revision of MS, we suggest an extended definition of the concept. An extensive overview of empirical findings, together with a holistic presentation of influential factors, offers a foundation for further MS studies conducted in a consumer behavior context, concluding with an extensive research agenda.

SUICIDE AND THE MEANING OF LIFE IN THE PERSPECTIVE OF LOGOTHERAPY

The society of the 21st century is marked by a feeling of practicality and immediacy, resulting in increasingly fleeting and often weakened social relations. In view of this scenario, the present study sought to understand the main factors that lead the human being to develop an existential emptiness and to lose the meaning of life, reaching the point of committing an act as abrupt against himself, as suicide. This work was also used for the investigation on the theme of death and how it is perceived and seen by today’s society. Such questions were addressed in the light of Logotherapy, the theory of Life Sense Psychotherapy, through a bibliographic research. In view of this, the work is done throughout the chapters, where the first chapter highlighted some sociocultural aspects of a society that denies the finitude of life, perceiving suicide as an abominable and despicable act. The next chapter addressed the aspects of Logotherapy, which perceives the need to find a meaning that encourages the subject to want to live. Finally, the third chapter promoted the analysis of the impact of existential emptiness and the search for a meaning in the formation of the subject’s life, based on the theories and reflections of the psychologist and creator of logotherapy, Viktor Emil Frankl. With this literature review it was possible to investigate and understand the aspects of psychic suffering that result in an existential emptiness, because it is considered a factor of great relevance for the loss of the meaning of life, which triggers suicidal ideation or even the consummate act. The present work promoted and encouraged the reflection and deconstruction of the prejudice of our society on the theme about the finitude of life and suicide.

COVID-19 and perceiving finitude: Associations with future time perspective, death anxiety, and ideal life expectancy.

The coronavirus pandemic threatens the health, future, and life of individuals and might hence accentuate perceptions of the fragility and finitude of life. We investigated how different perceptions of the pandemic (regarding the virus as a health threat and perceiving social and financial restrictions due to the pandemic) relate to different perceptions of life's finitude (i.e., future time perspective, death anxiety, and ideal life expectancy). Using longitudinal data from 1,042 adults (68% women; aged 18-95 years) gathered within the first and within the second peak of the pandemic in Germany, we expected decreases in future time perspective and ideal life expectancy, as well as increases in death anxiety in response to threatening perceptions of the pandemic. The results indicated decreasing future time perspectives, an accentuation of death anxiety right at the beginning of the pandemic, as well as stable ideal life expectancies. There was a tendency for more pronounced change among older adults. Initial levels and changes in the perceptions of finitude could partly be explained by initial and changing perceptions of the pandemic. Next to perceptions targeting the threat of the virus itself, perceptions of strong social and financial restrictions during the pandemic contributed to an altered stance toward the finitude of life. Concluding, we discuss stability and variation in perceptions of the finitude of life during a time of major societal change and a potentially life-threatening pandemic. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Espiritualidade e qualidade de vida em médicos que convivem com a finitude da vida

Abstract: Introduction: In the medical field there are still gaps regarding the concept of death and the finitude of life, very often understood as a failure of Medicine and not as an integral part of existence. In this context, the view of death as an error, the failure of a treatment, generates anxiety and demands by doctors themselves, which can affect their physical, mental and spiritual health. Objective: To analyze the relationship between spirituality, religious practices, and quality of life of medical professionals in the field of oncology and palliative care who deal with the finitude of life on a daily basis in a reference hospital in northeastern Brazil. Method: Cross-sectional, analytical and quantitative study with an intentional and convenience sample. Questionnaires were applied to describe the sociodemographic profile, quality of life (WHOQOL - bref) and spirituality using the Brief Religious/Spiritual Coping Scale (Brief RCOPE) and the Spirituality Self Rating Scale (SSRS). Data analysis used the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS), version 13.0 for Windows. The study was approved by the REC of IMIP under Opinion 2,890,118. Result: Twenty oncologists and palliative care physicians participated in the study; most were women (55%), of white ethnicity (60%), Catholic (80%) and married (70%). The SSRS scale identified an average score of 21.75. In the Brief RCOPE, the positive aspect scored 2.64, the negative aspect 1.47, and the total aspect 2.04. There was a significant positive association between the SSRS and RCOP results (p=0.0). When associating WHOQOL - bref with Brief RCOPE, a direct relationship with statistical significance of the psychological domain was obtained with total RCOP (p-value: 0.01) and with negative RCOP (p-value: 0.03). Conclusion: The study showed a relationship between spirituality and quality of life, as well as positive aspects of faith for coping with everyday stress, corroborating the discussion of the importance of including spirituality as a protective factor in health.

Espiritualidade e qualidade de vida em médicos que convivem com a finitude da vida

Abstract: Introduction: In the medical field there are still gaps regarding the concept of death and the finitude of life, very often understood as a failure of Medicine and not as an integral part of existence. In this context, the view of death as an error, the failure of a treatment, generates anxiety and demands by doctors themselves, which can affect their physical, mental and spiritual health. Objective: To analyze the relationship between spirituality, religious practices, and quality of life of medical professionals in the field of oncology and palliative care who deal with the finitude of life on a daily basis in a reference hospital in northeastern Brazil. Method: Cross-sectional, analytical and quantitative study with an intentional and convenience sample. Questionnaires were applied to describe the sociodemographic profile, quality of life (WHOQOL - bref) and spirituality using the Brief Religious/Spiritual Coping Scale (Brief RCOPE) and the Spirituality Self Rating Scale (SSRS). Data analysis used the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS), version 13.0 for Windows. The study was approved by the REC of IMIP under Opinion 2,890,118. Result: Twenty oncologists and palliative care physicians participated in the study; most were women (55%), of white ethnicity (60%), Catholic (80%) and married (70%). The SSRS scale identified an average score of 21.75. In the Brief RCOPE, the positive aspect scored 2.64, the negative aspect 1.47, and the total aspect 2.04. There was a significant positive association between the SSRS and RCOP results (p=0.0). When associating WHOQOL - bref with Brief RCOPE, a direct relationship with statistical significance of the psychological domain was obtained with total RCOP (p-value: 0.01) and with negative RCOP (p-value: 0.03). Conclusion: The study showed a relationship between spirituality and quality of life, as well as positive aspects of faith for coping with everyday stress, corroborating the discussion of the importance of including spirituality as a protective factor in health.

Finitude humana e a Enfermagem: reflexões hermenêuticas a luz do pensamento de Gadamer

Este manuscrito apresenta reflexões sobre os aspectos da finitude da vida sob a hermenêutica de Gadamer e a relação da enfermagem frente a experiência de morte de pacientes sob seus cuidados. Trata-se de um estudo descritivo, tipo análise reflexiva da literatura. A morte é um tema presente nas discussões em várias áreas do saber e repercute diretamente na maneira de viver e morrer dos homens. Somente o ser humano possui a consciência sobre a própria morte e este entendimento acaba gerando angústias, medo e dor. A finitude da vida é vista sob diferentes aspectos, tanto pelos pacientes como pelo enfermeiro que assiste ao paciente, sendo que esse profissional tende a limitar sua discussão aos aspectos meramente técnicos. No cuidado de enfermagem é preciso considerar essas questões, aproximando uma assistência mais humanizada, com uma escuta de qualidade e minimizando o impacto que a morte traz para familiares. Também há necessidade de se pensar na lacuna desta abordagem durante a formação acadêmica destes profissionais, e assim espera-se com esse estudo contribuir para a reflexão das práticas e cuidados dos enfermeiros no processo de morte.

O profissional de Enfermagem diante do processo de morte e morrer do doente em fase final de vida

A morte e o morrer são eventos inevitáveis e suas possibilidades podem estar presentes desde o nascimento à velhice. Porém, os profissionais de enfermagem apresentam limitações para exercer a assistência necessária ao paciente em fase final de vida e seus familiares. Possui como objetivo conhecer, por meio das produções científicas, a atuação do profissional de enfermagem diante do doente em fase final de vida no processo de morte e morrer. Trata-se de uma revisão narrativa em que os levantamentos de busca dos artigos foram realizados em abril de 2020 por meio do acesso à Biblioteca Virtual de Saúde. Os resultados obtidos foram discutidos por meio de categorias: os dilemas éticos face ao processo de morte e morrer; espiritualidade e sentimentos vivenciados pela equipe de enfermagem; e competências e cuidados de enfermagem na fase final de vida. Considera-se que as adversidades vivenciadas pelos profissionais de enfermagem podem ser superadas a partir da espiritualidade e pela introdução de discussões sobre o tema ainda no processo de formação, por meio do entendimento e da aceitação da finitude de vida e à introdução dos cuidados paliativos aos pacientes fora de possibilidades de cura e que inevitavelmente evoluirão para cuidados de fim de vida.

Cotidiano de profissionais da saúde nos cuidados paliativos: um estudo na fenomenologia social de Alfred Schültz

Objetivo: Investigar a compreensão e significados atribuídos às experiências que ocorrem no cotidiano de profissionais da saúde em uma Associação de Apoio a pessoas com câncer em cuidados paliativos. Métodos: Trata-se de pesquisa qualitativa, com abordagem da Fenomenologia Social de Alfred Schütz, que propõe analisar as realidades construídas pelas pessoas e para si próprias, a partir de suas experiências intersubjetivas. Participaram quatro profissionais da saúde que desenvolvem ações de cuidados paliativos no cenário deste estudo. A investigação se deu, inicialmente, pela realização de duas reuniões de aproximação das pesquisadoras com o campo de estudo, ocorridas no período de julho a outubro de 2018. O instrumento utilizado para a coleta das informações foi a entrevista fenomenológica. Resultados: A partir das ideias nucleares, cinco categorias de análise foram definidas: trajetória dos profissionais em cuidados paliativos; cuidados paliativos: significados e motivações; experiências e desafios vividos pela equipe; construção de um cuidado singular e o lidar com a finitude da vida. Conclusão: A partir da compreensão do processo que permeia o trabalho em cuidados paliativos emergiram nos discursos subjetivos dos cuidadores a pessoa com câncer a ‘relação com o outro’ e revelaram desafios diários de convivência; conflitos; reflexões pessoais e de atitude diante do enfrentamento do câncer. As ações sinalizam para a integralidade e a resolubilidade dos cuidados, que requerem um olhar especial para o ser humano.

O Lazer como Afirmação da Identidade no Timing da Finitude

Este trabalho é fruto de uma pesquisa do Programa de Pós-Graduação em Estudos do lazer e visa apresentar sua fundamentação teórica para um campo etnográfico referente a pessoas no timing da finitude da vida. Para tanto, apresenta as contribuições de importantes pensadores sobre o tema morte e atividade cotidiana/habituais como afirmação da identidade tais como Morin, Giddens e Kellehear. Propõe uma reflexão sobre o lazer dentro da perspectiva da filosofia existencial e investiga a possibilidade do lazer ser manifesto com um forte sentido de identidade e alinhado aos desejos mais autênticos no tempo da finitude. Mas também busca avançar para reflexões sobre o ser morrente, como um sujeito social e passível de interferências do mercado de consumo e da cultura de massa nas escolhas de atividades de lazer, além de outros determinantes como a condição sociocultural.

Aging: a New Perspective on an Old Issue.

The world is undergoing a profound demographic change with a rapid increase in the prevalence of aged individuals. The finitude of life, the burden of senescence and the search for strategies to prolong human life span have troubled humanity since ancient times. However, only in the past few decades we started to understand how organisms age and how life span can be manipulated. Here I give an historical perspective of the aging field and conclude with the notion that aging is controlled by signals from the adipose tissue which are tightly controlled by small non-coding RNAs such as miRNAs.

«ЛУЧШЕ, КОГДА ЭТО РЕШЕНО ДЛЯ ВСЕХ»: ИНДИВИДУАЛЬНОЕ И СОЦИАЛЬНОЕ В ОСМЫСЛЕНИИ СМЕРТИ В ЗАПИСКАХ Л. Я. ГИНЗБУРГ 1920–1940-х гг.

The article considers how during the 1920–1940s the problems of death, finality of human existence, immortality, postmortem ritual, guilt and repentance were thought through and developed by the outstanding Russian literary critic and thinker L. Yа. Ginzburg in the interesting and peculiar forms of ego-documents. The borderline nature of genre of her notes and autobiographical “narratives” — between ego-documents and literature — have led to a close interweaving in her reflections of personal, social and historical experience, as well as the intellectual tradition of thinking about the finitude of life and contributed to the creation of an original author’s system of ideas about death. The article shows the stages of formation of these perceptions correlated with the aspects of death actualized in this or that period of Soviet history in the 1920–1940s. From the reflection of the mid-1920s on the “lightness” and unremarkableness of death, a reverse side of the devaluation of life, Ginzburg came in the second half of the 1930s to the necessity of conceptual thinking about death, without which understanding the meaning of life was impossible. Experience of the war and blockade fills this reflection with an understanding of the nature of heroism and heroic death (as the only possible freedom in conditions of unfreedom of war), of the mechanisms of the work of grief, guilt and remorse as a tragic near-death experience in the event of loss of loved ones. The understanding of death, imbued with humanism and sociality, with a sense of experience of common human connections, has become an essential part of Ginzburg’s concept of human life in the postindividualist era.

Family experience living with advanced neoplasm: a glance at the rural population.

to understand the experience of rural families living with advanced cancer, from Family Management Style Framework's perspective. a qualitative research conducted in seven cities of the northern of state of Rio Grande do Sul in homes of 11 families (27 people). Data collection took place in 2014, using the genogram and narrative interview. Analysis followed Family Management Style Framework's theoretical model. the results were organized into three categories based on conceptual components of the referred model: no more normal life: situation definition; attempt to reconcile care and work: management behavior; imminence of the finitude of life: perception of consequences. living in rural context gives families specific ways of dealing with advanced cancer. Understanding the movements undertaken by rural families throughout the experience can guide nursing professionals in planning interventions collaborating with this population's health.

DO SERIOUS HEALTH EVENTS CHANGE HOW WE VIEW OUR OWN AGING? ON THE ROLE OF CARDIOVASCULAR EVENTS

Several studies have demonstrated beneficial effects of views on aging (VoA) on health, while the reverse relationship is seldom in focus. Serious health events (e.g., myocardial infarction) are life-threatening and remind individuals of the finitude of life possibly changing their VoA. The present study investigates the effect of cardiovascular events (CVE) on longitudinal changes in VoA using pooled data of three waves of the German Ageing Survey (2008, 2011, 2014, age-range: 40-95 years). To account for alternative explanations, individuals without CVE were matched to the individuals with CVE (n = 202) using a propensity-score-matching approach. Individuals who experienced a CVE showed more adverse changes in three VoA indicators (aging associated with physical losses, ongoing development, felt age) than individuals without CVE. Results show that CVE can change how we view our own aging which in turn affects future health changes. Following a CVE people may benefit from promoting positive VoA.

Perceptions of and Attitudes Toward Death, Dying, Grief, and the Finitude of Life-A Representative Survey Among the General Public in Germany.

Some end-of-life aspects have become a significant political and social issue such as elderly care and euthanasia. But hardly anything is known about how the general public in Germany thinks about death and dying more generally. Therefore, we conducted a representative online survey (N = 997) regarding 21 end-of-life aspects. Differences between subgroups were analyzed by conducting analyses of variance and Tukey honestly significance difference post hoc tests and by performing t tests. The findings revealed that the general public is open to engaging with topics of death, dying, and grief and that death education might even be promoted for children. Most participants appraised dealing with the finitude of life as part of a good life, but few have contemplated death and dying themselves so far. Attitudes and perceptions were related to age, subjective health, religious denomination, and gender. The survey provides useful implications for community palliative care, death education, and communication with dying people.

Impactos da mastectomia em mulheres diagnosticadas com câncer de mama em relação à autoimagem

Este estudo possui o objetivo de realizar o levantamento de informações dos sentimentos, que têm sido relatadas em artigos publicados no meio científico, sobre os impactos da mastectomia em mulheres diagnosticadas com câncer de mama em relação à autoimagem. Trata-se de uma revisão integrativa da literatura realizada na base bibliográfica eletrônica Scientific Electronic Library Online (SciELO), utilizando os Descritores em Ciências da Saúde (DECS): Autoimagem/Mastectomia, Sexualidade/Mastectomia e Mastectomia, interligados pelos operadores boleanos AND e OR publicada no período de 2010 a 2017. Foram encontrados 179 estudos, dos quais seis atenderam ao objetivo. A aplicação desse método resultou em seis assuntos que mais se mostraram presentes nas amostras pesquisadas. São eles: alopecia, sexualidade, perda da mama, cicatriz, vergonha e medo de finitude da vida. O processo da mastectomia causa a mulher alterações físicas e psicológicas. Neste sentido é fundamental que o profissional enfermeiro entenda a mulher como um todo, aprimorando-se e fornecento informações acerca da sexualidade e da autoimagem, tanto quanto sobre a doença.