Category Archives: Death and Dying

Broken-heart Syndrome

Can a person die of a broken heart? Will the unexpected loss of a close relative or loved-one create such emotional stress that it jeopardizes the person’s well-being? Don’t people in grief recover sufficiently so that their physical health suffers … Continue reading

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What Words Do You Say To A Grieving Friend?

On Sunday, November 5, 2017, Patrick Devin Kelley walked into Sutherland Springs Baptist Church (TX) during worship, and, and with an AR-15 rifle, killed 26. A neighbor, hearing gunfire, returned with a rifle, wounded Kelly twice, and forced him to flee. Ten minutes … Continue reading

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Morbidity Rate of Depression

If you feel depressed, your life may shorten. According to results of a study released recently which followed the lives of 3400 Canadian adults from 1952 to 1992, people with depression experienced a shorter life span than those without it. … Continue reading

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Death by Avalanche, Suicide: Hayden Kennedy

Although suicide is twice a common as homicide, the unusual suicide of world-class rock climber Hayden Kennedy caught my eye.  On Saturday October 7, 2017, Kennedy, 27, and girlfriend Inge Perkins, 23, skied together on Imp Peak in the southern Madison … Continue reading

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Aging Process: A Shot Across My Bow

Although I’m in good health and active with physical and mental exercise, the past year has brought me a new awareness of slowing. For the past year, I, with my doctors, have struggled to understand certain “spells” I experienced. Standing … Continue reading

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What Opioid Crisis? II: Fentanyl

After posting my last blog (What Opioid Crisis? 9/1/17) about the skyrocketing deaths from overdoses of heroin, I came across new information, this time on the synthetic opioid fentanyl. Although heroin overdoses continue to present a serious health problem, annually killing an … Continue reading

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What Opioid Crisis?

One of my favorite TV programs is Justice TV’s Drugs, Inc., an in-depth look at specific drugs and specific areas of our nation and the world where drugs, including the opioid heroin, are manufactured, transported, distributed, marketed, sold and used. … Continue reading

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Chicago Violence 2017 Hits Home

From January 1 to the present, 2,331 people were shot in Chicago. That number represented 280 fewer shootings than in 2016. But violence last year reached levels not seen in 20 years. So far this year in Chicago also: 432 homicides, 18 … Continue reading

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Discouraging Suicide

Michelle Carter, convicted of involuntary manslaughter for texting Conrad Roy III, her boyfriend, to commit suicide, was sentenced this week in a landmark case making headlines nationally. This past June, Bristol County Juvenile Court, in Massachusetts, Judge Lawrence Moniz had … Continue reading

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Effects of Political Violence

Belleville, Illinois, resident James Hodgkinson left for Washington D.C. several weeks ago in order to “fix the tax system,” according to his wife Suzanne. Before leaving, he sold all his belongings, she reported. Political activist Hodgkinson then shocked our nation … Continue reading

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