Terminal lucidity
Terminalna jasność umysłu
REVIEW PAPER
Curr Probl Psychiatry 2017; 18(1): 34-46
10.1515/cpp-2017-0003
© 2017 Medical University of Lublin. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonComercial-No Derivs licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/)
Boris Alejandro Chiriboga-Oleszczak
Szpital Neuropsychiatryczny im. Prof. M. Kaczyńskiego w Lublinie
Abstact
Terminal lucidity is a term used in the medical literature to determine the improvement of mental functioning shortly before death, even among patients with serious and long-term disorders. In 19th century, cases of mind clarity recovery shortly before death, were often recognized by doctors and interpreted as a sign of an impending death. In 20th century, the interest in this phenomenon decreased and then, virtually disappear. In recent years, on the wave of publications concerning near death experiences and related events such as the end of life experiences, papers about the improvement of mental functioning shortly before death, exponentially grew and got a new name, terminal lucidity. In this paper, an overview of the available literature is presented to outline the historical, phenomenological and clinical picture of this phenomenon and its possible implications for medical care and future studies.
Keywords: terminal lucidity, lightening up before death, end of life experience, memory.
Streszczenia
Terminalna jasność umysłu to termin stosowany w literaturze medycznej do określenia poprawy stanu umysłowego na krótko przed śmiercią, nawet u osób z wieloletnimi zaburzeniami w obrębie funkcjonowania poznawczego. W XIX w. przypadki odzyskania wcześniej zmąconego umysłu na krótko przed śmiercią były często rozpoznane przez lekarzy i interpretowane jako znak zbliżającej się śmierci. W XX w. zainteresowanie tym zjawiskiem spadło, aby praktycznie zniknąć. W ostatnich latach, na fali publikacji dotyczących doświadczeń śmierci klinicznej (near death experiences) i pokrewnych jej zjawisk jak doświadczenia końca życia (end of life experien-ces), liczba prac gwałtownie wzrosła, a poprawa stanu umysłowego na krótko przed śmiercią uzyskała nową nazwę: terminalna jasność umysłu (terminal lucidity). W pracy przedstawiono przegląd dostępnej literatury, aby zarysować obraz historyczny, fenomenologiczny i kliniczny tego zjawiska oraz jego ewentualne implikacje dla opieki medycznej i przyszłych badań.
Keywords
terminal lucidity, lightening up before death, end of life experience, memory
Słowa kluczowe
terminalna jasność umysłu, rozjaśnienie przed śmiercią, doświadczenia końca życia, pamięć
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