The Death Positive Moment

Photo by Mathew MacQuarrie on Unsplash.

 The Death Positive Movement is the brainchild of Caitlin Doughty, an author, Youtuber, podcaster, and mortician. She created the popular Youtube series Ask a Mortician and founded the death acceptance organization The Order of the Good Death in 2011.

The Death Positive Movement was inspired by the work of anthologist Dr. Ernest Becker who won the Pulitzer Prize for his book The Denial of Death. It seeks to change the way we think about and approach death by removing the silence, stigma, and denial connected to the topic. The movement attempts to remove death phobia from society by advocating for people to become comfortable speaking openly about dying, death, and grief. Death Positive people recognize that it is important to have these conversations and to discuss the topic of death in a positive way. They recognize that doing so can be both helpful and also surprisingly comforting.

Death Positive Movement Tenents (as listed on The Order of the Good Death website)

1. I believe that by hiding death and dying behind closed doors we do more harm than good to our society.

2. I believe that the culture of silence around death should be broken through discussion, gatherings, art, innovation, and scholarship.

3. I believe that talking about and engaging with my inevitable death is not morbid but displays a natural curiosity about the human condition.

4. I believe that the dead body is not dangerous, and that everyone should be empowered (should they wish to be) to be involved in care for their own dead.

5. I believe that the laws that govern death, dying and end-of-life care should ensure that a person’s wishes are honored, regardless of sexual, gender, racial or religious identity.

6. I believe that my death should be handled in a way that does not do great harm to the environment.

7. I believe that my family and friends should know my end-of-life wishes, and that I should have the necessary paperwork to back-up those wishes.

8. I believe that my open, honest advocacy around death can make a difference, and can change culture.

In addition to Caitlin’s work, increased death awareness has come from a variety of other initiatives in recent years such as sites like The Conversation Project, What’s Your Grief, the Death Literacy Institute, and Death Salon as well as through the rise of Death Cafés and increasing awareness of the work of Death Doulas.

Check out Caitlin Doughty’s 7 Habits of Highly Effective Death Positive People the video below: