The final stage of the dying process

The final stage of the dying process is seen as beginning when the split of mental-self and body-self has taken place in the mind of the dying person. Successfully carried out mourning work gives the dying the final experience of giving up his body and of merging into the fantasy world which becomes highly cathected. When dying, the person creates a new combination of his life's experiences which is more truly representative of the reality in face of impending death. The creative outcome in the analysis of the dying person is a unique relationship of communication. In that communication the fear of death on the most regressive level of the dying process, as fear of losing contact with own fantasies as the last link to life, can get a meaningful resolution by offering the possibility of communicating these fantasies to another person in transference.