Author Archives: anitahannig1

The Boston Globe interviewed Anita Hannig on the connection between Covid-19 and our collective mortality. “One of the ironies of this death-saturated pandemic, Hannig says, is that the average American has in some ways become further removed from death. Restricted from hospitals and nursing homes, family members have been robbed of those intimate moments weContinue reading “Too many Americans still can’t talk about death, even after 15 months of pandemic”

Insider interviewed Anita Hannig for a piece on how the COVID-19 pandemic is shifting Americans’ relationship to death. While the pandemic’s social distancing requirements have radically altered the way people mourn, this moment has also pushed people to grapple with death in ways they might never have otherwise.  Read the full article here.

“The coronavirus has stripped many of a say in the manner and timing of their own deaths, but for some terminally ill people wishing to die, a workaround exists. Medically assisted deaths in America are increasingly taking place online, from the initial doctor’s visit to the ingestion of life-ending medications.” Read the full Conversation pieceContinue reading “The Conversation: Dying Virtually: Pandemic Drives Medically Assisted Deaths Online”

“Every morning, Americans wake up to news of a rising death toll from the coronavirus. We hit the refresh button and the numbers snake upward. Right about now, many of us might wish that we could trade places with a hydra — the famed aquatic creature that scientists believe to be immortal — even for aContinue reading “Cognoscenti: COVID-19 Won’t Let Us Forget Our Maddening, Precious Mortality”

“In the midst of this global health crisis, it’s easy to forget that there are still those among us living with serious illness. As a palliative care physician and a medical anthropologist, we know that living with serious illness often means coming to terms with difficult information. It means dealing with uncertainty about the future, makingContinue reading “KevinMD: We are all living with serious illness now”

The National Catholic Reporter interviewed Anita Hannig for an article on how the COVID-19 pandemic is affecting our relationship to death and dying. The pandemic is “really going to impact the way that we’re able to find closure in the face of death, which is something that we already fear so much,” says Hannig. FindContinue reading “Pandemic narrows Americans’ cultural distance from death and dying”

“Most people probably imagine a medically assisted death, while emotionally difficult, to be technically straightforward: ingest the medication and die. The reality, however, is far messier. There is no magic pill that will end a person’s life, and physicians aren’t taught how to end someone’s life in medical school.” Read the full Quillette feature here.

Mashable interviewed Anita Hannig for an article on Lantern, a website that wants to make planning for death completely normal. “A lot of people still think that if you’re talking about death too much, there’s an eerie way you’re bringing it about,” Hannig says. “Having a website like this is making death so much moreContinue reading “Website that helps you plan for death finds success with millennials”

“One in every five Americans now lives in a state with legal access to a medically assisted death. In theory, assisted dying laws allow patients with a terminal prognosis to hasten the end of their life, once their suffering has overcome any desire to live. While these laws may make the process of dying lessContinue reading “The Conversation: Assisted Dying Is Not the Easy Way Out”

“No matter where you stand on the right to die, the recent New York Times feature on Marieke Vervoort’s life or death decision likely touched a chord. After years of blinding pain brought on by a degenerative muscle disease, the Paralympic Belgian medalist opted for a medically assisted death. Though Vervoort’s struggles transcend borders, herContinue reading “Cognoscenti: How Our Assisted Dying Laws Work Against Some People Who Suffer The Most”