For English speakers, three articles I've read over several years about death described by healthcare professionals. I've already discussed the first two, but upon reading the third, I thought it was worth compiling a little anthology.
The first to kick off in 2011: "How Doctors Die" or how doctors at the end of life tend to avoid the therapeutic frenzy they too often witness in their patients.
The second, recently discovered in the fantastic essays of Scott Alexander, dates back to 2013: "Who By Very Slow Decay" or how medical staff abandons illusions in palliative care centers.
Finally, the last one, recently published in the New York Times – if you only read one, I recommend this one: "A Hospice Nurse on Embracing the Grace of Dying". A nurse in a palliative care hospice describes her work and the final moments of her patients in a book titled "The In-Between: Unforgettable Encounters During Life’s Final Moments.” The stories and analogies she shares in the article are deeply moving.
The goal is not to depress. On the contrary: truth sets you free. A keen awareness of our finiteness is the first antidote against a life steeped in illusions.