What is Thanatology?

Thanatology is an academic study of mortality or death. This topic includes a wide range of disciplines, including sociology, biology, theology, psychology, economics and literature around death. In particular, Thanatology focuses on medical changes in the body during the process of dying and after death, the visions of death and grief in closer and larger circles surrounding the deceased and ritual practices concerning death.

The word Thanatology has ancient Greek roots. The suffix, - logs , comes from an ancient Greek term "to speak" and now means "study". The root word, Thana , comes from the Greek God Thanatos, the personification of death. This God was generally referred to as a negative, ruthless figure in Greek mythology. His name is also used in other words of death, such as euthanasia, effective killing of a suffering person or animal, or Thanotophobia, fear of death. Metchnikoff also defended the scientific study of death, known for his work in microbiology andzoology, especially for his discovery of phagocytosis. He claimed that those who die have small or no scientific resources in experience. He hoped that academic study of death would help those who face, whether personally or beloved, are not afraid of death.

While Thanatology remained a relatively unstable entity for years after the death of Metchnikoff in 1916, the interest was restored after World War II, which many people had struggled with death and grief. The work of an American psychologist and influential tanatologist Herman Feifel is often attributed to his experience in World War II, especially the horrors of atomic bombs. Feifel continued to publish a work, such as his book The meaning of death in 1959, which brought the field of Thanatology to the main perspective. His publications focused mainly on coping with life -threatening diseases, conscious and subconscious attitudes to death and fear of death. Like Metchnikoff, Feifel TIt has been needed to carry out further research that helps those who deal with anxiety, fear or grief in the process of dying.

Today, Thanatology can be monitored at a university level at several universities around the world. The curriculum is likely to include substantial studies in medicine, examining physiological changes in the body before and after death, the role of prescription drugs in the dying process, psychiatry of dying or monitoring someone dies and the controversial subject of euthanasia. Other courses could focus on cultural relations with death throughout history, the causes of death throughout history, components of religion and mythology that Cosmrt Ncern and various other areas of research. The program of study or certificate in Thanatology prepares students for work as sad advisors, sad therapists or death teachers.