Death is what? What is death and how not to fear it?

Birth and death are the boundaries of the life of every being on the planet. These are two sisters, complementing each other, the two halves of the whole, which constantly come into contact and interact. Each is the start of something new, at the same time both symbolize the completion of another cycle of being. And if with birth we only associate pleasant and joyful moments, then the end of life approaching daily, frightens and frightens the unknown. What is the death of a person? What will happen next? Let's understand together.

What is death?

The world is arranged in such a way that all beings living in it go through several stages: birth (appearance, appearance), growth and development, flowering (maturity), extinction (aging), death. Similar cycles are even representatives of inanimate nature: stars and galaxies, for example, as well as various social objects - organizations and powers. In a word, nothing in the physical world can exist forever: everything has a logical beginning and no less relevant end. What to say about living creatures: insects, birds, animals and man. They are arranged so that the body, having worked a certain amount of time, begins to wear out, and ceases its vital activity.

Death - this is the final stage of life, which becomes the consequence of a deep, strong, irreversible violation of the functions of vital organs. If it comes because of the natural wear of tissues, the aging of cells, it is called physiological, or natural. A person, having lived a long and happy life, once falls asleep, and no longer opens his eyes. Such death is even considered desirable, it does not bring pain or suffering to the dying person. When the end of life was the result of unfavorable circumstances and factors, one can speak of pathological death. It comes because of trauma, asphyxiation or blood loss, it leads to infection and disease. Sometimes death is massive. For example, in the XIV century, a pandemic of bubonic plague covered the whole of Europe and Asia . What is black death? This is the terrible sea, a pandemic that in two decades has taken 60 million lives.

Different points of view

Atheists believe that the end of the existence of man, his transition to total non-existence - that is how death can be characterized. This, in their opinion, is the death of not only the physical body, but also the consciousness of the individual. They do not believe in the soul, considering it a peculiar form of brain activity. After the heart sinks, the gray matter is no longer fed with oxygen, so it dies together with other organs. Accordingly, atheists completely exclude the eternal life and immortality of the soul.

As for science, from its point of view, death is the natural mechanism that protects the planet from overpopulation. And also provides a change of generations, each subsequent one reaches a greater development than the previous one, which becomes the starting point for the introduction of innovations and progressive technologies in different spheres of life.

Instead, religion in its own way explains what a person's death is. All known world religions emphasize that the death of the physical body is not the end. After all, it is just a shell for the eternal - the inner world, the soul. Everyone comes to this world to fulfill their destiny, then returns to the Creator to heaven. Death is only the destruction of the body shell, after which the soul does not cease to exist, but continues it outside the body. In every religion, ideas about the afterlife are their own, and all of them are essentially different from each other.

Death in Christianity

Let's start with this religion, as it is more intimate and familiar to the Slavic people. Even in the distant past, when they learned what a black death was, frightened by its irresistible force, people began talking about the rebirth of the soul. Rather, because of the fear of death, trying to give yourself hope, some Christians assumed that the person was prescribed not one but several lives. If he made serious mistakes, sinned, but managed to repent, then the Lord necessarily gives him a chance to correct what he has done - he gives another revival, but in a different body. In fact, true Christianity denies the mythical doctrine of the pre-existence of the soul. Another second cathedral of Constantinople, registered in the VI century, threatened anathema to someone who will disseminate such ridiculous and absurd judgments.

According to Christianity, there is no death per se. Our existence on earth is just a preparation, rehearsal for an eternal life next to the Lord. After the immediate death of the body shell, the soul remains next to it for several days. Then on the third day, usually after burial, flies to heaven or goes to the den of devils and demons.

What is the death of a person and what's next for him? Christianity claims that this is just the end of an insignificant stage of the existence of the soul, after which it continues to develop in paradise. But before getting there, she must go through the Last Judgment: unrepentant sinners go to purgatory. The length of stay in it depends on what were the atrocities of the deceased, how violently for him prayed relatives on earth.

Opinion of other religions

They interpret the concept of death in their own way. First, let's find out what death is in terms of the philosophy of Muslims. First, there is much in common between Islam and Christianity. In the religion of Asian countries, earthly life is also considered a transitional stage. After her graduation, the soul falls on the court, which is headed by Nakir and Munkar. They will tell you where to go: to heaven or hell. Then comes the supreme and just judgment of Allah himself. But it will only come after the Universe collapses and completely disappears. Secondly, death itself, sensations during it, strongly depend on the presence of sins and faith. It will be inconspicuous and painless for true Muslims, long and painful for atheists and infidels.

As for Buddhism, for the representatives of this religion questions of death and life are secondary. In religion, even there is no concept of the soul as such, there are only its basic functions: cognition, desire, sensation and representation. In the same way, the body plus the bodily needs are characterized. True, Buddhists believe in reincarnation and believe that after death, the soul always reborn - into a human being or other living entity.

But Judaism does not pay much attention to the explanation of what death is. This, according to his adherents, is not such an important issue. Borrowing from other religions different concepts, Judaism absorbed a whole kaleidoscope of mixed and adapted beliefs. Therefore, it provides for reincarnation, as well as the presence of paradise, hell and purgatory.

Arguments of philosophers

In addition to representatives of religious denominations, the question of the end of earthly life was also liked by thinkers. What is death in terms of philosophy? For example, the representative of Antiquity, Plato believed that it is the result of the separation of the soul from the perishable physical shell. The thinker believed that the body is a prison for the spirit. In it, he forgets about his spiritual origin and seeks to satisfy the baser instincts.

The Roman Seneca assured him that he was not afraid of death. In his opinion, it - or the end, when you already do not care, or resettlement, and hence continuation. Seneca was sure that nowhere will be so crowded a man as on earth. Epicurus meanwhile believed that all the bad we receive from our sensations. Death is the end of feelings and emotions. Therefore, there is nothing to be afraid of.

What is death in terms of the philosophy of the Middle Ages? Early theologians - the God-bearer, Ignatius and Tatian - counterposed her life, and not in favor of the latter. The cult again becomes the desire to die for the faith and the Lord. In the nineteenth century, the attitude towards the death of the body changed: some tried not to think about it, others, on the contrary, preached about the demise, erecting it on the altar. Schopenhauer wrote: only an animal fully enjoys life and its benefits, because it does not think about death. In his opinion, only the mind is to blame for the fact that the end of the earthly life seems so horrifying to us. "The greatest fear is the fear of death," the thinker claimed.

Main stages

The spiritual component of the death of man is clear. Now let's try to find out what biological death is. Physicians identify several stages of the process of dying:

1. Pre-conditioning state. Lasts from ten minutes to several hours. The person is inhibited, the consciousness is unclear. There may be no pulse on the peripheral arteries, while being probed only on the femoral and drowsy. There is pallor of the skin, there is shortness of breath. The pre-conditioning state ends with a terminal pause.
2. Agonal stage. Breathing can stop (from 30 seconds to one and a half minutes), blood pressure drops to zero, extinguishing reflexes, including eyeballs. In the cerebral cortex, inhibition occurs, the functions of the gray matter are gradually turned off. Life-activity becomes chaotic, the organism ceases to exist as a single whole.
3. Agony. It lasts only a few minutes. Precedes clinical death. This is the last stage of the human struggle for life. All the functions of the body are disturbed, the parts of the central nervous system located above the brain stem begin to brake. Sometimes there is a deep, but rare breathing, there is a distinct but short-term increase in pressure. Consciousness and reflexes are absent, although they can briefly resume. From the side it seems that a person is getting better, but such a deceptive state is the last flash of life.

Then follows a clinical death. Although this is the last stage of dying, it is reversible. A person can be taken out of this state, or he can return to life on his own. What is clinical death? A detailed description of the process is set out below.

Clinical death and its signs

This period is quite short. What is clinical death? And her signs are what? Physicians give a clear definition: this is the stage that occurs immediately after the cessation of breathing and active blood circulation. In the central nervous system and other organs there are changes in the cells. If the doctors competently support the work of the heart and lungs with the help of the apparatus, then the restoration of the vital activity of the organism is quite possible.

The main signs of clinical death:

• Reflexes and consciousness are absent.
• There is cyanosis of the epidermis, with hemorrhagic shock and large blood loss - a sharp pallor.
• Pupils strongly dilated.
• Cardiac contractions stop, the person does not breathe.

The cardiac arrest is diagnosed when there is no ripple in the carotid arteries for 5 seconds and the organ reduction is not audible. If the patient does an electrocardiogram, one can see ventricular fibrillation, that is, contractions of individual beams of the myocardium, bradyarrhythmia or a straight line is recorded, indicating a complete cessation of the muscle.

The lack of breathing is also determined quite simply. It is diagnosed if, within 15 seconds of observation, doctors can not recognize the obvious movements of the chest, do not hear the noise of the exhaled air. At the same time, irregular convulsive breaths can not provide ventilation of the lungs, so it is difficult to call them full breathing. Although doctors, knowing what a clinical death is, are trying to save the patient at this stage. Since this state is not yet a guarantee that a person will necessarily die.

What to do?

We found out that clinical death is the very last stage before the final death of the physical body. Its duration directly depends on the nature of the illness or injury that led to this condition, as well as the flow and complexity of the stages that it is preceded. So, if the pre-presonal and agonal periods were accompanied by complications, for example, a severe impairment of blood circulation, then the duration of clinical death does not exceed 2 minutes.

It is not always possible to fix the exact moment of its occurrence. Only in 15% of cases experienced doctors know when it started, and can call the time of transition of clinical death to biological. Therefore, if the patient has no signs of the latter, for example, cadaveric blemishes, then we can say that there is no actual death of the physical body. In this case, you need to proceed without delay to resuscitation measures: artificial respiration and indirect heart massage. Doctors say, if you find a person who has no signs of life, then the sequence of your actions should be as follows:

1. Acknowledge the absence of reactions to stimuli.
2. Call an ambulance.
3. Lay the person on a flat solid surface and check the patency of the airways.
4. If the patient does not breathe on his own, make artificial mouth-to-mouth breathing: two slow, full breaths.
5. Check for a pulse.
6. If there is no pulse, massage the heart, alternating it with the ventilation of the lungs.

Continue in this spirit, until the call does not come reanimation brigade. Qualified doctors will conduct all necessary rescue activities. Knowing in practice what a person's death is, they diagnose it only when all methods are powerless, and the patient will not breathe a certain number of minutes. After their expiration, it is believed that the brain cells began to die. And since this body - in fact the only indispensable in the body, physicians fix the time of death.

Death in the eyes of a child

The theme of death has always been of interest to children. Kids begin to fear this phenomenon in 4-5 years, when they are gradually becoming aware of what it is. He worries that his parents and other close people do not die. If the tragedy happened, then how to explain to the child what death is? First, in no case do not withhold this fact. No need to lie that a person went on a long business trip or went to the hospital for treatment. The Kid feels that the answers are untrue, and the sense of fear is even greater. In the future, when a lie emerges, a child may become very offended, hate you, get a serious psychological trauma.

Secondly, you can take the kid to the church for a funeral service. But at the funeral itself, it is better for him not to be present. Psychologists argue that the procedure will be hard to perceive a weak child's psyche and lead to stress. If one of the relatives is very close to the baby, he must do something for the deceased: put a candle, write a farewell note.

How to explain the child, what is the death of a loved one? Say that now he went to God in heaven, where he turned into an angel, and from now on he will protect the baby. As an option, a story is possible about the transformation of the deceased's soul into a butterfly, a dog or a newborn baby. Should I take the crumb at the cemetery after the funeral? For some time, protect him from such visits: this place is very gloomy, and his visit will negatively affect the psyche of the child. If he wants to "talk" with the deceased, take him to church. Say that this is the place where you can mentally or aloud communicate with someone who is already with us no.

How to stop being afraid of death?

Not only children, but also adults are often interested in what death is and how not to fear it. Psychologists give many useful recommendations that will help reduce unnecessary fears and make you more bold before the inevitability:

• Do your favorite thing. You simply will not have time for bad thoughts. It is proved that one who has a pleasure-giving occupation is much happier. After all, 99% of illnesses cause exactly stressful situations, neuroses and negative thoughts.
• Remember: no one knows what death is. Whence the thought that she is terrible? Perhaps, everything happens painlessly: the organism, most likely, is in a state of shock, therefore automatically deprives itself of sensitivity.
• Pay attention to the dream. It's called a little death. The person is unconscious, he does not have anything to hurt. When you die, you will also fall asleep peacefully and sweetly. So, you should not be afraid.

And just live and enjoy this wonderful feeling. Do you still care what death is and how to treat it? In a philosophical way. It is inevitable, but it's not worth dwelling on thoughts about it. We need to appreciate every moment that fate has given us, to be able to see happiness and joy even in the most negative moments of life. Think about how good it is that the morning of a new day has come: do so that even the shadow of sorrow is not there. Remember: we are born to live, not die.