Facing illness, palliative care and dying well

At some point in our lives, we have all experienced the discomfort when the body is sick; sometimes even how the vital force weakens and consumes us in a state of alertness and imbalance until we reach agony. An exhausting state for those who experience it and for the family of the patient.

Let us remember that we are all terminal beings, we must all face death at some point; some accidentally, others unexpectedly, others consistent with the cycle of life, others just beginning to live... Death is a common axis to humanity and all its aspects.

What is palliate? It refers to caring. Within the framework of chronic and degenerative disease we find a physical symptomatology associated with the underlying disease that requires medical attention and a therapeutic model that allows the patient pass the disease in a dignified way. devoid of pain

• Related article: "The 8 functions of psychology in palliative care"

'Pain is inevitable, suffering is optional'

This is a phrase that I paraphrase every time I begin to forget the power of the mind in the experience of life, and a phrase that I share with my patients, especially those whose life has been consumed by the lack of enjoyment and interest in life same.

The body is an instrument, a temple, it is the engine of life, the channel for my evolution. Honoring the experience of life through the body is a true act of love. That is why physical pain makes so much sense on a spiritual level, it becomes a slope where the energy that inhabits us wears us out, and that is when life begins to become heavy.

According to the WHO, the definition of disease is that of "Alteration or deviation of the physiological state in one or more parts of the body, for generally known causes, manifested by characteristic symptoms and signs, and whose evolution is more or less foreseeable". However, pain is a signal from the central nervous system that something is wrong in our body. It is an unpleasant sensation, like a prick, tingling, stinging, burning or discomfort, to a greater or lesser extent, that makes desire and enjoyment impossible.

Illness and Dying are words with which we interact, but rarely or rarely do we stop to understand the dimension of the dying process, unless we have experienced death up close.

• You may be interested in: "The 13 types of pain: classification and characteristics"

The psychological implications of death

"Die", a word that is hard for the ego to digest and who prefers to quickly turn the page before understanding the dimension of this act of leaving, simply ceasing to be in this dimension. Western culture finds little appeal in revealing, through death, the experience of life itself. Countries like Mexico have evoked a culture around death that, beyond the festivity, symbolizes the dramatized face among caricatured catrinas to that the association with death symbolizes the opening that the Ego refuses to present, a kind gesture that she: Death, who waits patiently for the hour of tea.

Now, in the therapeutic context, death has many aspects. I come across patients with incredibly bothersome phobias about the possibility of dying, healthy people suffering from a thought that summons them to death and that is so anchored in their system that the enjoyment of existence itself has deteriorated significantly.

I meet patients going through different terminal processes, cancer in all its manifestations, some with the courage of the process of dying, of lovingly letting go of life. We all go through different processes., largely depends on the perception I have of the different situations I face, the psychic resources I have, the networks of support that facilitate the accompaniment around the deterioration of health, the concept of himself, his beliefs, the ability to connect with himself, among others.

Fear is a companion that settles full time during this period of illness and good death. The important challenge in palliative programs has to do with caring for people in an integral way, mainly betting on that the time you have in life have an adequate quality of life, that is why the role of palliative doctors is key in dying well. Today traditional medicine has a close approach and through drugs that inhibit pain and activate pleasure, they facilitate pain management, medicine functional, bioenergetic and of the earth is loving with the experience of the pain of the patient, botany is and will always be the medicine that mother earth gives us as children who We are from the land and today, fortunately, it is gaining more prominence in the circles of medicine and health, which is the purpose of medicine: Promote the care of life in all their spheres.

• Related article: "Thanatology: The Study of Death"

The social dimension of the act of palliation

The patient's family and support networks play a fundamental role in the person's dying process., regardless of age and the life cycle in which it is found, the care, the closeness, the word, humanization is key to cross the threshold of life, disease and death. The family has the important role of caring for and supporting the patient on an affective and emotional level.

Continuing to humanize palliative programs is one of the key challenges, betting on programming comprehensive, complete, humanized, close, focused on the quality of life of the patient, understanding all dimensions of the human being: body, mind and Soul spirit.

Accompany the patient in understanding the disease, in sustaining his anguish, allow him to integrate death into his immediate dimension, to leave unfinished business, to have conversations with people and make symbolic closures, to understand that the body is running out, that life is coming to an end, doing everything possible to give it physical well-being and alleviating the pain.

We must take care of the caregivers

The primary caregivers of the terminal patient enter a phase of chronic exhaustion, it is very common for families to end up delegating to a few the care of the sick and this is an unfortunate situation, where increasingly isolated from enjoyment, their life slowly fades away with the energy of the sick. It is an issue that must be treated with special care and responsibility. The family as the axis must define patient care strategies, in such a way that the possibility of Caregiver Exhaustion Syndrome is avoided.

Concluding...

There are many possibilities to extend physical life, modern medicine attests to this, but beyond being alive because physical systems work, we must be alive because our soul is integrated by the purpose of life and in this process of dying the communication with the plane is sharpened even more spiritual.

We face many situations during our lives, all evolutionary cycles bring important challenges, but this is the great teacher, the true teacher; the act of dying. The understanding that one has of it will facilitate or not the way in which the cycle is transited, so try during your life experience, connect with you, breathe, have deep conversations, inhabit yourself, build yourself, bet on life so that death does not take you for granted surprise.

As a therapist, I currently accompany people and families going through the process of illness, I have developed a program which I have called 'good living, good dying', this is a program with a palliative approach and is aimed at individuals and families who are going through a chronic illness, bereavement, loss or a close and underlying situation of the death, we seek to deconstruct ideas that contain the suffering of the sick person and their family, and travel the path of the disease with its nuances in a way compassionate.

The therapeutic practice with a palliative approach is a very good tool that makes it easier for patients and their families to aim for the quality of life in a disease process and mourning in such a way that suffering is not the protagonist of this history. And remember; pain is inevitable, suffering optional.