SIGNS OF DEATH

Once a human or a living being dies then the body starts decomposing. From age old days death has been pertained to religious and philosophical customs and theory. According to the Abrahamic customs death was associated with resurrection.

In the Dharmic tradition after death each one is said to reincarnate. Oblivion in atheism means once death has occurred the consciousness comes to an end. It is a feeling of pain and sentimental experience one gets when their loved ones passes away. A ceremony after death is conducted in which the person died is remembered where different custom of mourning is followed. Other customs and rituals include either cremation of the corpse or place the dead body in a grave or tomb, typically with funeral rites.

A person's final stage is characterized by two different continuous changes namely the physical and the emotional and spiritual change which are dependent and related to each other. When we consider the physical change the body of the living being shuts down once all the physical functioning and the parts stops to work.

These changes happening in the body does not require a medical treatment with aggressive interference because this is the sequence which takes place for a body to ceases or to stop functioning. All we need to do at this part is to comfort the dying person. Another change taking place in the dying person is the emotional-spiritual act which totally varies from the physical change.

This change involves the detachment of the soul of the dying person from the body and its worldly likings. During this process of spiritual change where the soul is disengaging from the body it takes its own priorities of unfulfilled wishes and seeking permission to let go from their loved ones.

This change is conforming to a standard way in which the soul is ready to take off from the existing body to the neighboring magnitude of life. This state of transition in a human body should be accepted and supported. These are two most common signs and symptoms which indicates death. The journey of death for each individual takes place in a unique way. Though the destination is same the paths may be different for each person.

A series of actions or steps are taken to achieve the end from a known life of this world to the next dimension of life. The dying person soon starts on a journey understanding or taking up the fact of death and thus the soul ready to depart from the body. There is significant change or stage in the process of this journey where each one takes their own time to reach their destination.

We must all be aware of how a single egg once it is fertilized, it undergoes various stages of development in the mother's womb and finally give birth to a child in a period of ten months. It is exactly the same way in the process of dying the human body undergoes various physical changes in the last stage over a long or sometimes even a short period of time.

Though it may require medical treatments at times, we must take to consideration or understand the fact that it is the natural process in the event of death which need be disturbed. The physical changes in the process of death may involve the following

When a person is nearing death his or her hands, arms, legs and feet may get cool because the circulation to the extremities of the body slowly stops. Also the color of the skin becomes pale .It is good to keep the dying person warm by covering them with a blanket.

In the process of dying there will be changes happening in the metabolism of the body which will make them sleep for a prolonged period of time. They will most of the time feel drowsy and difficult to wake them up. Though they might look uncommunicative or unresponsive they might be very well aware of your presence in vicinity.

So it is good to hold their hands and talk softly to them, they may not respond to you but still sense and hear your presence. The last sense to be lost in the dying process is hearing. So try to spend maximum time with your loved ones.

The person may be in an acute disturbed state of mind that occurs mainly due to reduced blood flow to the brain and other physical changes happening in the body. They may be in a state of disorientation and confusion about the time, place and people around them.

They will be very restless making a deep inarticulate sound in response to pain or despair. At such times it is good to hold their hand and calm them by removing their doubts of fear. Try to communicate to them in a gentle and lucid way. Never try to manipulate or interpret to the dying person. But all this pain and suffering clearly indicates the last hours of death.

The person might get into a state of paralogism where their statement and gesture may not logically follow from the previous argument or statement. This is a sign where indicates that the person is getting ready to bye and just testing you by these non sequitur actions if you are ready to let him or her go. So take the instant as gift and hug, kiss and express out your feelings by crying.

The biggest gift one can give to a dying person is letting them go without giving them a guilty feeling for just leaving you and going. A dying person will always want to hold their loved ones in order to assure that those who are going to be left behind will be alright in their absence. So it is your ardent duty to reassure to the dying person that it is okay to let go from this worldly pleasures. This is one best of the best way of concern which can give to dying person. Some consider crying is an abnormal feature but it is the most common and natural way of biding Good-Bye to your ones. By tears your express your love for them and feel sorry for hurting them at some point of time.

A dying person may not want to eat or drink much for swallowing becomes very difficult for them. You might also hear a bubbling or percussive sounds as their breathe. These are all indications of nearing death which might happen days or weeks before the final hours of life.Infact this is once again a normal action taking place for if we force a dying person to eat it may even because more discomfort. The physical help we can assist them with is to make them sit or lie in a comfortable position.

The pattern of breathing changes for they might take shallow and deep breaths which might alternate in a short span of time. Suddenly we might feel that they are not breathing but the interval may be as ten to twenty seconds which is quite common during the time of death.Dont worry thinking that your loved ones are choking or finding difficulties in breathing, it is only a normal sign of death and not misery.

A dying person may face a lot of emotional and spiritual changes in the process of dying and get into a state of deep unconsciousness for a prolonged or indefinite period .In many cases the person would like to be left alone not for the reason they reject their loved ones it is just a state of transition where they are getting ready for the death and would like to detach from their family and the surroundings. They may even become less friendly and at such situation we should be able to respect their feeling and just let go. Since hearing is the last sense which is lost we may also try to hold their hand and talk to them in a normal tone with whatever you need to tell.

A dying person may come up with vision like experiences what they have felt. We should not ignore or consider it to be hallucination. They might claim to have seen a long-dead relative or some different places. These experiences may not be visible to us but this is a sign for the dying that they are getting ready to say good-bye from this life and reach their destiny. So we should not dismiss these facts but instead try to assert their experience that it is quite common.

People who are the brim of death may sometimes talk things which may mean nothing but it is all associated to the fact that they are dying and is usually expressed in some form of code words. They might be meaning about the journey where they are going to depart from life to death.

Though these statements may be confusing to us, we should understand that they are ready let go from this life for which we should grant permission. Atlas when death occurs the persons heart stops pumping, muscles relax, breathing is stopped, the body temperature cools down, urine and stool may be passed, eyes remain open and the color of the body becomes pale.