Being Mortal Book Summary - Being Mortal Book explained in key points

Listen to the Intro

00:00

Being Mortal summary

Name: Being Mortal
Rating: 4.5 (122 reviews)
Author: Atul Gawande

Atul Gawande

Illness, Medicine and What Matters in the End

4.5 (122 ratings)

19 mins

8 key ideas

Audio & text

What is Being Mortal about?

Being Mortal (2014) helps the reader navigate and understand one of life’s most sobering inevitabilities: death. In this book, you will learn about the successes and failures of modern society’s approach to death and dying. You’ll also learn how to confront death and, by doing so, how to make the most out of life.

About the Author

Atul Gawande is a doctor, author, researcher and professor at the Harvard School of Public Health. He has written two other books, Complications (2007) and The Checklist Manifesto (2011).

Table of Contents

Being Mortal
summarized in 8 key ideas

Audio & text in the Blinkist app

Key idea 1 of 8

Old age and disease result in a loss of independence, causing reliance on family, medicine and social programs.

It’s unpleasant to think about death and disease. Yet every one of us will eventually be confronted with them, both directly, as our own body ages, and indirectly, as our loved ones age and pass on. Precisely because it’s inevitable, it is tremendously important to talk about death and dying.

As we age, our organs slowly lose their strength and efficiency. Our bones, muscles and teeth, for example, lose mass, while our blood vessels and joints harden. As our bodies undergo this process, the heart has to pump harder to maintain blood flow, causing many elderly people to suffer from high blood pressure.

Our brains aren’t spared deterioration, either; the brain shrinks in size, often resulting in dementia.

As our bodily systems gradually fail us, we become more prone to injury and disease, and less capable of caring for ourselves.

Muscle weakness, for instance, causes many elderly people to suffer dangerous falls. In the US alone, some 350,000 people per year break a hip due to muscle deterioration.

The process of aging makes it harder to maintain an independent lifestyle. Even daily activities – from grocery shopping to using the toilet – become increasingly difficult.

Eventually, we’ll need permanent help from family or medical professionals, which often means spending our remaining years in a hospital or nursing home.

The increased vulnerability that comes with old age is a hard fact, but that doesn’t make it any easier to accept. It’s important, then, that we consider the realities of aging and death, and find ways to make the experience less painful.

Increasingly, aging and dying take place in hospitals and other medical institutions.

Modern medicine allows us to now live longer than ever before. In past centuries, diseases contracted after the age of 50 usually resulted in a quick death. Today, however, doctors can help us maintain our health much longer, slowing the body’s deterioration and postponing death.

As a result of these medical breakthroughs, the percentage of Americans over the age of 65 has risen from 2 to 14 percent in the last 200 years. In Germany, Italy and Japan the elderly now constitute 20 percent of the population. While it might seem strange, these demographic changes have meant changes in how we die.

Even when we’re old and sick, we want to maintain at least some control over our lives.

When you’re young, you have all the freedom you could ask for. You can live by yourself and play by your own rules, without anyone meddling in your affairs.

While independence is among our fundamental values, the truth is that a point will come in life when complete independence is no longer tenable. When you grow old or sick, you must accept the new limitations imposed by your body and mind. But that doesn’t mean you want to give up the values that have guided your entire life.

Medical institutions and doctors fail to meet the needs of the elderly and dying and often rob them of their independence.

When most people think of old age homes, they imagine drab rooms full of dullness and depression – and this stereotype isn’t too far from the mark. Unfortunately, boredom and loneliness are the norm for the elderly.

Nursing homes and intensive care units often operate on regimented routines that infringe on people’s autonomy. People who had previously lived their lives in relative freedom suddenly find themselves bound to a schedule and forced to give up all personal privacy.

We often seek the treatment that helps us live longest, even when it makes the remainder of our life miserable.

Twenty-five percent of the US’s healthcare costs is for treatment of people who are in the final year of their life, even though they make up only five percent of all patients. While some of these treatments are important and beneficial, many are hopeless attempts to prolong a fading life. Drawing out death often does more harm than good.

In choosing a treatment, both patients and doctors often succumb to hopeful delusions. Even when all the odds are against them, the patient and their family tend to anxiously await a miracle cure that almost certainly won’t come.

Society must manage aging and death so we keep both our independence and our sense of meaning.

Clearly, modern society’s version of medical care fails to meet the needs and desires of those facing death. To age well and to die well, we need to promote services that respect people’s autonomy while providing compassionate help and guidance when it is needed.

One such model that does this is assisted living, which aims to move away from the rigorous control of nursing homes while essentially providing the same services.

Doctors need to provide better guidance for people facing death.

The relationship between doctor and patient is often tricky, and this is especially true when the patient is terminally ill. Doctors are no less human than their patients, and are constantly torn between professional sobriety and natural compassion.

But in order to help sick people make the most of their lives, doctors can’t be completely one way or the other.

Families need to learn to talk about age, illness and death in realistic terms – before it’s too late.

We often don’t want to talk or think about old age and mortality – neither our own or that of our loved ones. Often, we start thinking about death and illness when it’s already too late, thus forcing ourselves to make hasty decisions and depriving ourselves of a dignified good-bye.

It’s important that you discuss the questions that come with age and disease openly with family and our friends, for example, by considering what “trade-offs” you’re willing to make on your sick- or deathbed. You can make this vivid by considering the following questions: What will be most important in your final hours? What makes life worth living?

Want to see all full key ideas from Being Mortal?

Key ideas in Being Mortal

More knowledge in less time

Read or listen

Get the key ideas from nonfiction bestsellers in minutes, not hours.

Find your next read

Get book lists curated by experts and personalized recommendations.

Shortcasts ^New

We’ve teamed up with podcast creators to bring you key insights from podcasts.

Best quote from Being Mortal

People cant stop the aging of their bodies and minds, but there are ways to make it more manageable.

—Atul Gawande

Who should read Being Mortal

Anyone who has wondered how to improve the lives of the elderly and terminally ill
Anyone with elderly or terminally ill loved ones
Anyone who wants to improve their life by improving their death

Categories with Being Mortal

Science Motivation & Inspiration

Books like Being Mortal

And Finally

Henry Marsh

Matters of Life and Death

16 min

Young Forever

Mark Hyman

The Secrets to Living Your Longest, Healthiest Life

An Old Man, a Young Man, and Life's Greatest Lesson

How Philosophy Can Help Us Find Our Way

13 min

3.9

Live Life in Crescendo

Stephen R. Covey and Cynthia Covey Haller

Your Most Important Work is Always Ahead of You

18 min

4.6

How Proust Can Change Your Life

Alain de Botton

Valuable Insights Into Living Your Best Life

Hopeful Reflections on the Beauty and Unpredictability of Existence

An Inspiring Reflection on Life in Its Final Moments

21 min

4.4

You Can Heal Your Life

Louise Hay

A classic of self-realization with practical and spiritual advice for emotional and physical problems

The Joy and Transformative Power of Lifelong Learning

21 min

4.6

What our members say
The following reviews are sourced from the Apple App Store or the Google Play Store, and as such Blinkist has no possibility of its own to technically verify them. Both Apple and Google state that they ensure that only users who have actually downloaded the app can submit a review. Please refer to the respective guidelines of the two providers for more information.

Sven O.

It's highly addictive to get core insights on personally relevant topics without repetition or triviality. Added to that the apps ability to suggest kindred interests opens up a foundation of knowledge.

Thi Viet Quynh N.

Great app. Good selection of book summaries you can read or listen to while commuting. Instead of scrolling through your social media news feed, this is a much better way to spend your spare time in my opinion.

Jonathan A.

Life changing. The concept of being able to grasp a book's main point in such a short time truly opens multiple opportunities to grow every area of your life at a faster rate.

Renee D.

Great app. Addicting. Perfect for wait times, morning coffee, evening before bed. Extremely well written, thorough, easy to use.

Start growing with Blinkist now

25 Million

Downloads on all platforms

4.7 Stars

Average ratings on iOS and Google Play

91%

Of Blinkist members create a better reading habit*

*Based on survey data from Blinkist customers

Powerful ideas from top nonfiction

Try Blinkist to get the key ideas from 5,500+ bestselling nonfiction titles and podcasts. Listen or read in just 15 minutes.

Start your free trial

Blink 3 of 8 - The 5 AM Club

by Robin Sharma

Being Mortal summary

What is Being Mortal about?

About the Author

Being Mortal
summarized in 8 key ideas

Old age and disease result in a loss of independence, causing reliance on family, medicine and social programs.

Increasingly, aging and dying take place in hospitals and other medical institutions.

Even when we’re old and sick, we want to maintain at least some control over our lives.

Medical institutions and doctors fail to meet the needs of the elderly and dying and often rob them of their independence.

We often seek the treatment that helps us live longest, even when it makes the remainder of our life miserable.

Society must manage aging and death so we keep both our independence and our sense of meaning.

Doctors need to provide better guidance for people facing death.

Families need to learn to talk about age, illness and death in realistic terms – before it’s too late.

Key ideas in Being Mortal

Old age and disease result in a loss of independence, causing reliance on family, medicine and social programs.

Increasingly, aging and dying take place in hospitals and other medical institutions.

Even when we’re old and sick, we want to maintain at least some control over our lives.

Medical institutions and doctors fail to meet the needs of the elderly and dying and often rob them of their independence.

We often seek the treatment that helps us live longest, even when it makes the remainder of our life miserable.

Society must manage aging and death so we keep both our independence and our sense of meaning.

Doctors need to provide better guidance for people facing death.

Families need to learn to talk about age, illness and death in realistic terms – before it’s too late.

Best quote from Being Mortal

Who should read Being Mortal

Categories with Being Mortal

Books like Being Mortal

Discover the Blinkist catalogue

Popular titles

Most popular categories

Trending Collections

Being Mortal summary

What is Being Mortal about?

About the Author

Being Mortal summarized in 8 key ideas

Old age and disease result in a loss of independence, causing reliance on family, medicine and social programs.

Increasingly, aging and dying take place in hospitals and other medical institutions.

Even when we’re old and sick, we want to maintain at least some control over our lives.

Medical institutions and doctors fail to meet the needs of the elderly and dying and often rob them of their independence.

We often seek the treatment that helps us live longest, even when it makes the remainder of our life miserable.

Society must manage aging and death so we keep both our independence and our sense of meaning.

Doctors need to provide better guidance for people facing death.

Families need to learn to talk about age, illness and death in realistic terms – before it’s too late.

Key ideas in Being Mortal

Old age and disease result in a loss of independence, causing reliance on family, medicine and social programs.

Increasingly, aging and dying take place in hospitals and other medical institutions.

Even when we’re old and sick, we want to maintain at least some control over our lives.

Medical institutions and doctors fail to meet the needs of the elderly and dying and often rob them of their independence.

We often seek the treatment that helps us live longest, even when it makes the remainder of our life miserable.

Society must manage aging and death so we keep both our independence and our sense of meaning.

Doctors need to provide better guidance for people facing death.

Families need to learn to talk about age, illness and death in realistic terms – before it’s too late.

Best quote from Being Mortal

Who should read Being Mortal

Categories with Being Mortal

Books like Being Mortal

Discover the Blinkist catalogue

Popular titles

Most popular categories

Trending Collections

Being Mortal
summarized in 8 key ideas