re: Terminal Disease and Fighting Hard question

I deal with people at the end of life a decent amount. One of the most sad things I frequently see is an otherwise very healthy person losing a spouse of many years only to rapidly deteriorate in health the year after their loss and pass away.

Many times this happens with almost seemingly no biological or health reason. The only thing I’ve been able to equate it to is that they just lose their will to live after their person passes. It’s intangible and I have no way to explain it other than it 100% happens and I see it all the time.

So, as it relates to your question, I see it on the other side too. Take two people who were the same age diagnosed with the exact same terminal condition. There are some that have lost that willpower and just submit to the end and last a couple months even with the treatments. Then there are others that push themselves and make it a year with those same treatments.

I think this is what people are talking about when they say ‘fight.’ There is an intangible mental willpower to live that some people lose in situations of terminal illness for a variety of reasons be it loneliness, loss, or fear. I doubt there’s some study I could pull up to prove this other than I have just witnessed people in the same situation have dramatically different results. The only thing I can attribute it to is that some people just lose that ‘fight’ for some reason or another.