Uniform Anatomical Gift Act

A law that permits people, upon their own deaths, to designate their bodily organs for transplantation to other people

Death Anxiety

Emotional distress and insecurity aroused by encounters with dead bodies, grieving, people, or other reminders of mortality, including one's own thoughts

Denial

An extreme response in which one attempts to cope with danger or loss ignoring important features of reality

Edge Theory

A theoretical approach that emphasizes the survival function of death-related anxiety

Fatalism

The belief that future events have already been determined; therefore, one is powerless to affect the future

Living Will

A document that instructs medical personnel on an individual's wishes should a situation arise in which that person cannot communicate directly. Often involves the request for limiting the type of medical interventions. One of a class of documents known as advance directives