Marie Sejrsgaard, Dorte Hvidtjørn, Christina Prinds
{"title":"The paradox of awareness of death in parenthood transition-A qualitative study.","authors":"Marie Sejrsgaard, Dorte Hvidtjørn, Christina Prinds","doi":"10.1080/07481187.2024.2361744","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>In the high-income countries of Scandinavia, there is a low statistical risk of death during childbirth. However, awareness of the possibility of death seems to have prevailed. In existential psychology and philosophy, awareness of death is a universal condition in life, and facing the anxiety this awareness might invoke has the potential of being life-invigorating. In a hermeneutic analysis of Qualitative data, generated in a study on new parents' existential meaning-making, this study aimed to explore awareness of death as experienced in parenthood transition. The results found two overarching themes: <i>Awareness of my own Finitude</i> and <i>Fragility of our loved ones</i>. These were interpreted in existential philosophical and psychological theories, and concludes that awareness of death might signify an existential integration of 'self' in the new role of parenthood. Acknowledging these thoughts as healthcare professionals could support the meaning-making of parenthood transition, by normalizing their universal nature.</p>","PeriodicalId":11041,"journal":{"name":"Death Studies","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.1000,"publicationDate":"2024-06-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Death Studies","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1080/07481187.2024.2361744","RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"PSYCHOLOGY, MULTIDISCIPLINARY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
In the high-income countries of Scandinavia, there is a low statistical risk of death during childbirth. However, awareness of the possibility of death seems to have prevailed. In existential psychology and philosophy, awareness of death is a universal condition in life, and facing the anxiety this awareness might invoke has the potential of being life-invigorating. In a hermeneutic analysis of Qualitative data, generated in a study on new parents' existential meaning-making, this study aimed to explore awareness of death as experienced in parenthood transition. The results found two overarching themes: Awareness of my own Finitude and Fragility of our loved ones. These were interpreted in existential philosophical and psychological theories, and concludes that awareness of death might signify an existential integration of 'self' in the new role of parenthood. Acknowledging these thoughts as healthcare professionals could support the meaning-making of parenthood transition, by normalizing their universal nature.
期刊介绍:
Now published ten times each year, this acclaimed journal provides refereed papers on significant research, scholarship, and practical approaches in the fast growing areas of bereavement and loss, grief therapy, death attitudes, suicide, and death education. It provides an international interdisciplinary forum in which a variety of professionals share results of research and practice, with the aim of better understanding the human encounter with death and assisting those who work with the dying and their families.