Death on the blog

So much of 2016 astounded. Politically, socially and environmentally things occurred on a scale that caused many to take stock. One thing that seemed to capture the imagination of western society in a manner not seen before was death.

As the year progressed it became a case of simply: who’s next? Cries to keep human, but ephemeral treasures such as David Attenborough, and even the Queen, protected, cosseted, somehow rendered immortal, rang out across the globe.

Social media played a particular role in bearing timely news of the latest death – or was that passing, or maybe, moving on? How best could we otherwise avoid the D word? Of course from Shakespeare to slang there is no shortage of sometimes amusing, often euphemistic expressions to describe death.

Behind these matters however lies the serious question of how to effectively communicate end-of-life issues. Broadly, in the West, dying has been made a highly medicalised phenomenon. Distanced somehow from the everyday, death and the discussions about it that might have erstwhile taken place in the family home are turned over to medical professionals to oversee. Yet it is becoming increasingly obvious that medicine is hopelessly ill equipped for this responsibility. And while there are undoubtedly elements of medical training to blame, there also exists the issue of language – or more significantly, the absence of a definitive lexicon, widely acknowledged and commonly used. I am going to call it the death lexicon.

In doing so I do not propose an exhaustive list of synonyms, idioms, descriptors of death, but rather make a call for awareness, for simplicity, and for honesty in bringing the discussion of death to the table.

The New York Times reported in January that mortality also became a topic of humour as never before in 2016. Comedians have, the Times reported, delivered powerful performances confirming that comedy can tell a story of complexity and nuance and emotional power. We learn that, in the show “45Jokes About My Dead Dad”, comedian Laurie Kilmartin walks the audience through the treatment, recovery, raised hopes and hard realism of helping a loved one die with dignity.

Indeed, the year just gone has seen unprecedented, widespread consideration of what it might mean to die with dignity. Canada, and increasing numbers of US states, enacted legislation to facilitate physician assisted dying. The Australian, State-based discussion of similar initiatives is continuing, with Victoria clearly closest to legislative change. What would also be apparent is the inherent dilemma surrounding the language of these discussions. If there was ever a reason to establish an agreed death lexicon, it is this. Words such as killing and murder have no place outside the criminal code. Instead it is time to invoke the measured, but very clear terminology of the recent VCAT Review in the case of Syme v. Medical Board of Australia. In this judgement, rendered in favour of Dr Rodney Syme, the Tribunal set a benchmark for the language of subsequent debate regarding medical assistance at the end of life, and importantly the elements of patient choice and control.

Inevitably hyperbole and distortion of fact will continue to infiltrate the discussion of this emotive subject. An agreed lexicon that draws all players to meaningful discourse on death will ultimately serve all of us well. In this, dying, death and end of life considerations must once again be openly articulated free from euphemism and its attendant potential for confusion and even further discomfit.

Death will be what it is – inevitable for every sentient being. Perhaps we can let 2017 be the year the D-word itself is released from its shackles?