The Sections of the Leaving Life QuestionnaireWord-Form Version |
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Below are brief descriptions of some of the areas covered in each section. Please note that the LLQ is designed to help you get used to thinking about D&D ("death and dying") gradually by arranging the sections from least- to more anxiety provoking. So, don't be discouraged if in looking through the sections below for the first time you find the topics in the later sections a bit intimidating.
Keep in mind that that almost all of the questions are multiple choice in order to help you formulate your own ideas, and to show you how others might respond. There is a place to fill in your own response if none of the choices fit.
Who I am. What I am trying to do. The purposes of the LLQ. The different forms of the LLQ. Some good reasons to avoid or deny D&D. Things that could make it easier to think about D&D. What to do if you decide you do not want to explore D&D at this time. Section 1: Your general ideas about leaving life and where they came fromWhere do you fall on personality characteristics that can affect your approach to leaving life? What do you think happens after life? What do you do when you don’t have enough information to make a well-informed decision (as in deciding whether to take a chance on what happens when you leave)? What did you learn about D&D as you were growing up from your family, in school, from the media and other sources? Why it is so difficult to think about and plan for leaving life as you do other challenging situations? Section 2: Your reactions when other people leave lifeHow have you reacted when people close to you have left life? How do you feel at funerals? How did the person who was leaving feel and behave? How well do you think that doctors, nurses, hospice people and others treated the person who was leaving and his survivors? Section 3: How you have been dealing with D&D up until nowWhat steps have you taken to plan for your exit from life? Have you made regular and living wills? What keeps you from doing more? Have you ever considered leaving life voluntarily? What lead up to this thought? What kept you from doing so? Section 4: "Very Old Age""Very Old Age" defined. How you rate on some characteristics that can affect your response to Very Old Age. How you think you will adjust -- or how you are adjusting -- to Very Old Age. How you think that Very Old people cope. Could you appreciate some of the advantages of being a Very Old Person? Section 5: Quality of life and sufferingThe difficulties of assessing quality of life (QOL) and level of suffering. Ways for you to estimate your own levels. How do you respond to the suffering of others? What do you think about the possibility that suffering can be meaningful or have other benefits? Section 6: The effects that your leaving would have on othersDo you think that a person's value to others should affect a person's decision to leave? How do you think your exit would affect family and society? What emotional reactions would others have if you left voluntarily? Section 7: Other factors affecting the desire to leaveWhat do you think happens after we leave, and how would this affect your willingness to go? Could technology or other means be used to reduce the fear of leaving? What difference would it make if leaving voluntarily were acceptable to those a person's relatives and to society? What difference would financial or other incentives make? Should permission for and help with leaving be extended to everyone or just to a chosen few? Section 8: An example of social and political consequences: the “slippery slope”If it is OK for some people to leave life voluntarily under special circumstances, will there will be pressure on others to leave applied by people who want them gone for their own selfish reasons? How well do you think you could resist the temptation to subtlety influence an aged relative whose continued presence was emotionally draining and expensive? Section 9: The decision to leaveIn this section, all the factors that could affect the decision of whether or not to leave life are brought together for your consideration. Section 10: Things to do before voluntarily or involuntarily leaving lifeSaying “Good-bye” and other last messages. Resolving conflicts and other “unfinished business”. Reviewing your life. What you want your exit to be like: what would happen, who would be there. Practical aspects of leaving: more legal matters, planning the circumstances of your exit, discussing your plan with others, etc..* What are some obstacles to your doing some of these things? *There are no "How to..." instructions on this site. Here are a few thoughts on
Section 11: What to do with your responses to the LLQWhat you can do in the area of D&D to help yourself, the people close to you, and society. There is a list of Web sites that can help you keep up with developments in this area, and that can provide practical help and support. There is also a form you can send me with suggestions for improving the LLQ. Section 12: Moving away from D&D: returning to life as usualHow to stop thinking about D&D when you are ready to. Appendices
Book Table of Contents. This book is in progress, as of Summer, 2003. It expands on the topics and ideas covered in the LLQ.
Other D&D Questionnaires There are links to three other questionnaires that are shorter than the LLQ.
Other Measures of Quality of Life This appendix contains eight other QOL questionnaires. Some are scored, and some sample your QOL over several days or more.
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