[hnuser355]

I believe this might be more prominent among uneducated folks of (at least in my neck of the woods) non-mainline American Protestant denominations. At least the doctors of the Catholic Church will specifically talk about preparation for death, dying well (also mentioned by Fred Rogers in the documentary I saw about him), etc.

[ljm]

More simply, it's not easy to let go of someone you love and say goodbye to them.

It's not fair to the person ready to die, but there's a lot of pressure put on people (through TV, movies, friends) to fight for those you love, even when they don't want you to.

[philwelch]

Catholics tend to be on the “full code” end of the spectrum; part of the whole “culture of life” thing.

[jrnichols]

I can't disagree with that.

As a whole, I think that Americans are woefully unprepared for end of life care. I encourage people to have an advance directive on file.