On the Dreams of the Dying

by Jan Hoffman. NY Times, February 2, 2016

This is a thought-provoking article.  It’s a bit long, but worth slogging through.

A team of clinicians and researchers at Hospice Buffalo are seeking to demystify end of life dreams and understand their role and importance in supporting “a good death” — for the patient and the bereaved.  They are studying people on a journey towards death, not people who just missed it.

¶A 76-year-old patient said he dreamed of his mother, who died when he was a child. He could smell her perfume and hear her soothing voice saying, “I love you.”

“We should be opening the door with our questions, but not forcing patients through it,” Dr. Timothy Quill said. “Our job is witnessing, exploring and lessening their loneliness. If it’s benign and rich with content, let it go. But if it brings up serious old wounds, get real help — a psychologist, a chaplain — because in this area, we physicians don’t know what we’re doing. ”

“The huge challenge of this work is to help patients feel more normal and less alone during this unusual experience of dying,” he said. “The more we can articulate that people do have vivid dreams and visions, the more we can be helpful.”

Image from Times article