Drivers and Dying

Abstract

Counterscript messages and driver behavior, although limited and brittle as coping mechanisms, enable us to contain and deny our most primitive fears: loss of control, incompleteness, dependency, not being. Death shreds that illusory sense of safety and precipitates a crisis. The mourning process gives opportunity for new and unconditional permissions. Allowing ourselves the full experience of dying—receiving, accepting, letting go—is the necessary transition for living fully whatever span of time remains.

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Notes on contributors

Nan V. Conway

Nan V. Conway, RM, MSW, is in private practice in Beaumont, Texas.