disenfranchised grief: A situation in which certain people, although they are bereaved, are prevented from mourning publicly by cultural customs or social restrictions.

mourning: The ceremonies and behaviors that a religion or culture prescribes for people to express their grief after a death.

incomplete grief: When circumstances, such as a police investigation or an autopsy, interfere with the process of grieving.

normal grief: The usual response to a loss. Initial sadness and then recovery are normal.

DNR (do not resuscitate) order: A written order from a physician (sometimes initiated by a patient’s advance directive or by a health care proxy’s request) that no attempt should be made to revive a patient if he or she suffers cardiac or respiratory arrest.

palliative care: Medical treatment designed primarily to provide physical and emotional comfort to the dying patient and guidance to his or her loved ones.

complicated grief: A type of grief that impedes a person’s future life, usually because the person clings to sorrow or is buffeted by contradictory emotions.

hospice: An institution or program in which terminally ill patients receive palliative care to reduce suffering; family and friends of the dying are helped as well.

double effect: When an action (such as administering opiates) has two effects, such as relieving pain and suppressing respiration.

health care proxy: A person chosen to make medical decisions if a patient is unable to do so, as when in a coma.

absent grief: When mourners do not grieve, either because other people do not allow expressions of grief or because the mourners do not allow themselves to feel sadness.

active euthanasia: When someone does something that hastens another person’s death, hoping to end that person’s suffering.

grief: The deep sorrow that people feel at the death of another. Grief is personal and unpredictable.

advance directives: Any description of what a person wants to happen as they die and after they die. This can include medical measures, visitors, funeral arrangements, cremation and so on.

living will: A document that indicates what medical intervention an individual prefers if he or she is not conscious when a decision is to be expressed. For example, some do not want mechanical breathing.

terror management theory: The idea that people adopt cultural values and moral principles in order to cope with their fear of death. This system of beliefs protects individuals from anxiety about their mortality and bolsters their self-esteem.

passive euthanasia: When a person is allowed to die naturally, instead of intervening with active attempts to prolong life.

slippery slope: The argument that a given action will start a chain of events that will culminate in an undesirable outcome.

physician-assisted suicide: A form of active euthanasia in which a doctor provides the means for someone to end his or her own life, usually by prescribing lethal drugs.