Käßmann advocates for a humane approach to pain and mortality

 

Frankfurt, March 20, 2014 – “Pain and death in Luther’s worldview and what we can learn from it” was the topic of the special lecture by Prof. Dr. Dr. hc Margot Käßmann, the ambassador of the Council of the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD) for the Reformation anniversary 2017, as part of the 25th German Pain and Palliative Care Day in Frankfurt am Main.

“Pain,” the theologian explains, “no longer plays the role of a ‘punishment from God’ in Luther’s reformatory view; enduring it is not a sign of piety.” And so, the reformer describes his own pain in numerous letters and seeks relief by every means possible. Thus, Käßmann advises patients and doctors, pain defies any theological or moral interpretation, even though it is an inseparable part of human existence.

In Luther's time, death was completely different from today, present in daily life, not only in the pre-Reformation fear of the impending purgatory that determined the entire way of life, but above all through the direct experience of dying and death in family and neighborhood.

Today, even 14-year-olds have seen an average of more than 10,000 deaths in computer games and on television, but real dying and death have disappeared from our perception, along with the possibility of consciously dealing with the end of life. "Bring dying and death back into our society as a part of life," Käßmann appealed to the audience, "so that people can once again experience life as valuable." With 860,000 deaths annually in Germany, dying comes as a complete surprise to most people. Dying cannot be scheduled into a rigid timetable; it requires time and space for support and mourning, as well as rituals that provide us with a reliable framework for saying goodbye. "As doctors, talk to your patients—regardless of age—about death, not only to make it easier for the bereaved, but also to help them consciously and meaningfully shape the time they spend until the end." A conversation about advance healthcare directives can be a good starting point. “Here we can learn a lot from Luther’s relaxed approach to dying and death, even for our own time,” said Käßmann.

The German Pain and Palliative Care Day lasts until March 22nd. Co-organizers are the patient organization German Pain League, the German Society for Interdisciplinary Palliative Care and the Institute for Quality Assurance in Pain Therapy and Palliative Medicine.

Further information at www.schrei-und-palliativtag.de

 

German Society for Pain Medicine eV (DGS)

The German Society for Pain Medicine eV (DGS), with more than 4,000 members, is the largest European specialist society that is committed to a better understanding and better diagnosis and treatment of chronic pain. It is organized nationwide in more than 120 regional pain centers where interdisciplinary pain conferences are held. The primary goal of the DGS is to improve care for people with chronic pain. This can only be achieved by establishing algesiology in medicine. This includes quality assurance in pain medicine through the establishment of therapy standards as well as the improvement of training, further education and training in the areas of pain diagnostics and pain therapy for doctors of all disciplines. The DGS publishes the pain therapy guide in which all members are listed. Together with the German Pain League eV, the DGS organizes the annual German Pain and Palliative Care Day in Frankfurt/Main.