Suicide takes place in any social, ethnic or cultural group, among children and adults, among males and females, among sick and healthy, married and not married, employed and unemployed people. That is why suicide prevention is an absolutely topical social issue nowadays. There is rather great variety of special reasons, which may bring people to end up with their lives by their own will.

Lasting chronic depression, despair, feeling hopeless and worthless, etc. are the most common reason of committing suicide. Such psychological conditions can be caused by many different motives: termination of a relationship or other sort of loss of a loved one, divorces or separation of parents, fights, quarrels and disruptions at home, troubles at school, like bad grades, troubles at work or unmet career expectation, lack of social success, loneliness, feeling old and disabled, facing of other social problems or negative changes.

Second reason can embrace mental or other sicknesses, like schizophrenia, alcoholism and drugs abuse, or such sort of disorders, when a person is mentally not strong enough to resist the idea of self-elimination. Besides, those, who have any kind of lethal disease, who are handicapped or paralyzed, may also have a strong tendency to suicide in order not to suffer and not to bring suffer to close people. Also, suicide is likely to be committed in the moments of psychological instability, like anger or rage. It may seem for a person as a way of revenging for something bad, or like a way of punishing somebody.

Social, political or economical reasons are less important, but for many people the problem of survival, making ends meet or absence of a prosperous future may become too hard to fight with. In adolescence it is very important to be resistive to numerous misunderstandings or misdirection in looking for own place in this world, in learning and comprehending, what this life is all about, thus not to get disappointed with natural principles of social existence and not to end up with living after some frustrations. In such ages there is also a slight tendency to commit suicide in order to attract attention and cause some public resonance.

There are several diverse ways of committing suicide, the most common of which are: taking poison or excessive amount of medicines, like tranquilizers or sleeping pills; using of firearms or other dangerous tools to destroy own body functioning; to eliminate oneself by causing a traffic accident, by jumping from tall buildings, by getting drowned in water or gas, etc. Unfortunately, a great deal of such suicide techniques are quite widely advertised in modern mass media making suicide more available and easier for everyone. This issue should be considered in the framework of any suicide prevention program.

Also, Kubler-Ross initiated so called Death with Dignity Movement, which had an objective to increase public and individual concern about providing terminally ill people with proper care and attention. She created new approaches and attitudes to treating hopeless patients, which included medical assistance in coping with pain and suffering, satisfaction of their emotional and spiritual needs, helping their families and close people, and so on.

Nowadays there are many supporters and opponents of the movement and activities of Elisabeth Kubler-Ross. The proponents continue promoting her ideas and studying emotional side of the process of dying. It was found out that the model of Kubler-Ross is valid not only for coping with grief or bereavement, but also for living any significant change in human life, like divorce or adultery.

The opponents claim that Kubler-Ross model is too very controversial, unclear and lacks perspective. Opposition of the model mostly takes source from objection and disagreements with the latest activities and interests of Dr. Kubler-Ross. By the end of her life she started looking for proofs of her theories through out-of-body experiences and attempts to connect with the dead.

Anyway, scientific work and findings of Elisabeth Kubler-Ross were highly appreciated while she was alive and after her death. She received more than twenty honorary degrees from major American universities, a number of awards, including Golden Plate Award from American Academy of Achievements, as well as the Modern Samaritan Award and the Ideal Citizen Award. She died in 2004 at her home in Arizona after a series of strokes.

Elisabeth Kubler-Ross devoted her life to investigating and promoting the beauty of death. “Watching a peaceful death of a human being reminds us of a falling star; one of a million lights in a vast sky that flares up for a brief moment only to disappear into the endless night forever.” Her innovative researches contributed the most into the development of such fields of medical science, like thanatology and others.

The legacy of Dr. Kubler-Ross is not only her written works and pioneering researches. It is also hundreds of grateful students, friends and colleagues, who used to draw inspiration from her enthusiasm and true devotion. In addition, it indirectly includes appreciation and love of thousands of her terminally ill patients, who received priceless help and understanding form her in their last weeks or days before passing away…

Some people may not agree with her findings and conclusions, but her influence and impact on our understanding of the concept of death are undisputable. She showed the humanity how to die in dignity and not to be afraid of death. “Dying is nothing to fear. It can be the most wonderful experience of your life. It all depends on how you have lived.”

This work became a significant point in the historical development of medical ethics and psychiatry, and it still remains obligatory for studying in all medical educational establishments. The importance of the book is in its subject itself: it was written about the issues that the majority of doctors did not want to touch. Therefore, the book became pioneering in exploring the phenomenon of death.

Besides, this work publicized a new theory, which generalized personal emotional reactions of people on grief (in particular, when learning about own terminal disease), which is known now as Kubler-Ross model. The researches revealed that there are five stages, which people usually experience when trying to cope with grief or a tragedy. Those stages include: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance.

The first stage of denial means refusal of the tragedy and attempts of the person not to believe in objectivity of the situation. It is frequently accompanied with personal withdrawal or isolation. The second and the third stages are mostly focused on communication with God, when the grieving person is trying to trade good behaviors for cessation or ease of pain and suffering.

Depression is usually the hardest phase of the process of grieving, according to the proposed Kubler-Ross model, because through the depression the person comes to the last stage and starts accepting the fact of tragedy. Depression can be very hard, and it is frequently accompanied with nervous breakdowns or other disturbances. The last stage is acceptance of the tragedy and focusing on possible solutions.

Elisabeth Kubler-Ross described these stages in her book, emphasizing that still the process of grief management is extremely individual for every particular person. She claimed that not everyone can go through all these five stages, though any grieving person experiences at least two of them. Also, she supposed that these stages may not happen in the stated sequence, and a person can firstly suffer depression followed by anger and bargaining, etc.

After publishing the book, Kubler-Ross had to confront with rather fierce opposition. In those times doctors, medical practitioners and psychologists did not support her great beginning in exploring the problems of death and treatment of terminally ill patients. The majority of specialists did not feel enthusiastic and comfortable with the necessity to study this issue. However, Kubler-Ross was very determined in importance of her work and continued the researches.

Elisabeth Kubler-Ross is one of the most prominent psychiatrists and medical doctors of the XX century. All of her life she has been studying the problems of dying with dignity, the problems of terminally ill people, and these researches resulted in publishing a landmark book, On Death and Dying, which was based on her practical experiences and became a bestseller. She is also known as “Mother of Hospice”, who contributed a lot into public transformation of seeing death and the process of dying.

Elisabeth Kubler-Ross was born in July 1926, in Zurich, Switzerland, and was one of the triplets. In the beginning of the World War II Elisabeth became a volunteer for working in the hospitals, and this experience helped her to discover her vocation: medicine. After the war she entered medical school in the University of Zurich and graduated from it in 1957. A year later she moved to the United States of America.

In New York Kubler-Ross continued her studies and started practicing in the hospitals, dealing mostly with terminally ill people. Life and social traditions seemed to be very different in the USA than those in Europe, and the young doctor was impressed with the standard way of treatment of hopeless patients. She could see that doctors were almost refusing to provide them with care. Thus, Elisabeth started getting interested in ethical and psychological problems of facing death.

In 1963 she completed education in the University of Colorado and received a degree in psychiatry. Working in Medical Center in Denver, Elisabeth Kubler-Ross interviewed hundreds of terminally ill patients, studying their perception of death, as well as their mental and psychological contradictions. She used to combine this work with giving lectures in Colorado Medical School and sharing her discoveries with the students, encouraging them not to feel uncomfortable when confronting and providing medical treatment for terminally ill people.

To illustrate her findings and concepts, she used to invite her patients right to the seminars in the Medical School. Old or young people, who were getting ready to meet the death, shared their experiences and thoughts with future doctors. This way Kubler-Ross tried to promote the idea of learning more about death: “For those who seek to understand it, death is a highly creative force. The highest spiritual values of life can originate from the thought and study of death.”

Non-drug users usually do not feel desire to take drugs, sometimes because they have already experimented with drugs before. As well as occasional drug users, some of non-drug users can also have irregular desire to try some drugs, but they prefer not to do this due to various fears, moral or other convictions. In contrast to a drug addict, an average non-drug user is healthier, both physically and mentally. Besides, non-drug users have better prospects for professional and personal development, social advancement, success, etc., than drug users.

Occasional drug users take some type of drugs irregularly, unlike drug addicts. They believe that drugs increase their potential, bring more self-confidence, stimulate creativity, and so on. Unlike non-drug users, they do not take occasional using drugs as a problem. But, at the same time, in contrast to drug addicts, the majority of occasional drug users think that they do not abuse drugs and can always stop on time before becoming addicted.

Unlike occasional drug users, drug addicts can not control themselves and, when the effect of the drug is gone, they start feeling very strong craving. They do not feel stimulating or relaxing effects of the drugs anymore, like occasional users do. Also, drugs have mostly very destructive effects on addicts’ health. Unlike the majority of non-drug users, drug addicts constantly move in criminal environment, because they contact drug dealers and often engage criminal activities (like picking and stealing) for obtaining some money to buy drugs.

Finally, in the social context, the main differences between people of these three groups include dissimilarities between their viewpoints on taking drugs, psychological reactions and behavioral patterns, abilities to self-control and comprehend the reality, etc. Thus, using drugs is related to a great deal of dangers and risks to our health, and it is necessary to do everything possible to avoid developing this killing habit, as well as protect our children against it.

I think this paper is a very sufficient educational work which can be worth reading my modern students, specialists and general public. It is very well-structured and thoroughly readable. The content of the paper is very good, and the author leaves no unclear or arguable points in his writing. He successfully uses a lot of illustrative statistical materials and historical references to support the information he presents in this work.

Furthermore, the style of the writing is absolutely excellent. It is quite simple and constantly keeps reader’s attention up. Besides, the author did a brilliant profound research on the point, which can be interesting even for history specialists. Combining two above mentioned ideas, I can suppose that this work will be welcomed both by scholars and by the general reader regardless of time and profession.

To my mind, the disadvantage of this work is absence of some sort of conclusion or, better to say, some summary of the conceptual idea, which the author tried to promote in his writing. Also, abundance of statistical information makes this work a bit heavy, but, again, statistics serves perfectly as a vivid illustration of the events unfolded in this research.

There are steps, which can be undertaken by a student during the process of improvement of his/her “being awake” condition in class. It is important to remember that all human reactions are specific and strictly individual, that is why everyone has to choose only those methods, which can be the most helpful and effective for reducing fatigue and sleepiness in class.

First of all, it is necessary to find out the most probable reason of extra-sleepiness during the lessons. If the reason is not satisfying sleep at night, a student needs to improve quality of night rest and/or reserve more time for sleeping at night. Scheduling time for going to bed, reducing the amount of evening meals, meditation, reading or having a bath before going to bed are the most practical ways for this.

If everything seems to be ok with night sleep, some other strategies can be used in class. If the lecture is interesting, the best way to stay awake is vivid participating in it, asking questions and making notes. If the lecture is boring, the best advice is to go in for passive physical activity. A student can slightly move his feet, fingers, head, etc. Even chewing a gum can work when trying to stay awake.

There are other little tactics for the strategy of staying awake during the lessons. Some students report that deliberate focusing or concentration on some detail of the surrounding (like teacher’s mimics, a class-mate’s earring and so on) can work as a sort of self-training.  Also, it is absolutely possible to count on class-mates, who can help to remain self-conscious and not to sleep in class.

If it is allowed by school administration, having some light bite or drinking at the lesson can also reduce sleepiness. Some people feel sleepy after having caffeine, the others, on the contrary, feel extra active. That is why a student has to find out own individual reaction on caffeine, and if it has tendency to refresh his mind, a small bottle of Cola before the lessons will be good for remaining in tonus.

In order not to sleep during the lessons, some smart students even use a technique from traditional Chinese medicine, which is called acupressure. It means massaging or stimulation (with a finger or a thumb) of special points on the body, located on so called meridians. Such stimulation works very well and really helps to reduce sleepiness to a great extent and feel more alert during the lessons.

If the above strategies do not bring to expected results, it can be helpful to consult a doctor. In the hardest situations, when a student displays the signs of some sleeping disorders (for example, narcolepsy), it is necessary to inform the lecturer about this problem and ask for his permission, for example, to get up during the lesson and refresh your blood circulation doing some easy movements.

For many students it is really difficult to adjust their biological clock to the schedules of the schools. “Owls” are usually sleepy in the mornings. At the same time “larks” feel energetic and workable, but they go sleepy by the afternoon. Nevertheless, sleepiness is not a proper life-style, especially for those students who are concerned about their future and who want to achieve success and recognition.

The main contraindications for employing manual therapy are problems with blood circulation, high pressure or troubles with heart. Besides, massage may not be recommended for those Parkinson’s disease carriers, who had recent bone fractures or injuries. Finally, massage may not be suggested for patients with cancer, because fastened blood circulation may create favorable environment for cancer to expand. The other contraindications for massage are skin damages, allergic reactions, wounds or large burns on skin, infections, severe forms of diabetes and problems with joints.

According to a recent research, conducted by the Touch Research Institute in Miami, it is evident that symptoms of PD are reducing after manual therapy and muscle exercises. During the 5 week research 16 Parkinson’s disease carriers were treated twice a week with 30 minutes of massage and progressive muscle relaxation exercises (like tightening and relaxing, etc.). By the end of the session patients reported about serious improvement in daily functioning, decrease of sleep disturbances, and medical specialists of the Institute discovered fall of stress-hormone levels of all the patients. “These findings suggest that progressive muscle relaxation exercises may increase dopamine levels, which have been associated with both a progression of the disease and a slowing of the disease,” researchers commented.

Massage is a very effective tool for all the disorders, connected with muscle-skeletal system, including Parkinson’s disease. It is very important to select a qualified and well-experienced massage therapist, who can offer several types of manual therapy and find out the most efficient for particular cases. If massage is applied correctly and in moderate doses, the symptoms of PD will soon begin going less critical, and patients will feel more relaxed, more comfortable, more energetic, calmer and morally healthier.

The other types of bodywork can be applied depending on the specific characteristics of every case. Many therapists recommend doing regular daily exercises, which will help to develop better mobility, improve motor function and blood circulation. Yoga and meditation may help to improve daily mood and inner condition of a Parkinson’s disease carrier; these treatments are useful when fighting with depressions and melancholy. Acupuncture is a very good treatment for tremors and shaking.

PD is one of rather spread diseases; it does not cause death by itself, but can result in lethal forms of pneumonia or aspiration pneumonia. Some people live with Parkinson’s disease for about 30 years. There are many famous people, who are sick with PD and who try to pay attention of the society on problems of Parkinson’s disease carriers. The most famous sufferer of Parkinson’s disease is Michel J. Fox, who was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in very early age of 30. Worldwide known politicians Adolph Hitler and Mao Zedong, Mohammed Ali, Salvador Dali, actors Jim Backus and Edward Winter, and many others were among Parkinson’s disease carriers.

Drug therapy can be employed for improvements in two directions. Firstly, drug treatment is directed on compensating lack of dopamine with L-dopa (levodopa) or dopamine simulators like pramipexole, pergolide, bromocriptine, etc. But such therapy is usually accompanied with unpleasant and dangerous side-effects, like nausea, vomiting, hypotension, visual hallucinations, jerky movements, or others. That is why long lasting drug treatment can bring to serious neurotic or psychotic disturbances. Besides, drug treatment can be used to fight against extra anxiety and depressions, which frequently become very bothering for individuals suffering from PD. In many cases using antidepressants and tranquilizers is strictly recommended by therapists.

Other therapies are also effective treatment for PD. Herbal therapy can be implemented as using dried, alcohol or glycerin extracts of different herbs, first of all, Ginkgo (Ginkgo biloba), Gotu kola (Centella asiatica) or Hawthorn (Crataegus monogyna). Homeopathy can be helpful as the therapy, which helps to increase content of Causticum, Plumbum metallicum, Zincum metallicum, Argentum nitricum in organism of an individual with PD. Rich and correct nutrition is extremely important. People with PD have to control the amount of proteins in their food, but such elements, like fatty and amino acids, vitamins C, B and B6, choline and glutathione, which stimulate function of the brains, must be always present in food intake of PD carriers.

One more effective form of treatment individuals with PD is bodywork, including exercise, massage, yoga, and other techniques. Manual therapy is one of the safest and most reliable methods of treatment. It helps to relieve tension in muscles, improves circulation of blood and blood pressure, improves functioning of lymph system, helps healing injures of soft tissues and eases pain.

Thus, aging and getting old are the principal risk factors of Parkinson’s disease, as these factors are linked to certain damages of brain structure. There are also some additional factors, like frequent usage of some tranquilizers, some drugs with aluminum, inorganic iron, carbon monoxide, or other chemicals, long-term exposure to environmental toxins and harmful chemicals, drug usage, and many more. All these factors can provoke early symptoms of the diseases from Parkinson’s disease group.

There is no special medical test, which can directly identify Parkinson’s disease, although some lab tests may help to exclude the probability of wrong diagnosis. To diagnose this disease doctors have to carefully examine medical history, to interview patient and his/her family, and to support their hypothesis with usual medical tests, like blood pressure test, genetic test, brain scans (to check out activity of dopamine cells), X-rays, etc.

As a rule, above mentioned signs of Parkinson’s disease start appearing when 60-80 per cent of dopaminergic cells are lost. Within the time, the level of dopamine in the brain will go on decreasing; this will bring to damage of principal functions of human body and affect abilities and senses of the person. In order to avoid complications, individuals with Parkinson’s disease require a lot of care and attention, which must be focused on maintaining of emotional balance, stability and proper self-perception, and on avoiding worsening of the disease by attacks of Parkinson-related depression.