www.advpm.eu 27 Review paper

Psychological aspects of suffering in illness and dying Suffering of a terminally ill person provokes reflection on psychological and spiritual dimension of that suffering. Frequently, the physical pain is accompanied by the ‘pain ’ of loneliness and helplessness towards inevitability of passing away. The other person can play an extremely supportive role in bearing the pain as well as in accepting the inevitability of the end of life, provided that maturity and empathy are one’s essential personality traits that the person in need can be endowed with. Key words: suffering, dying, empathy Adv. Pall. Med. 2012; 11, 1: 27–35 A human being and suffering The ill person is not left unaided in the suffering, for almost always one can experience the presence of another man. As the result of involvement in the experience of another human being, the individua