Doctors often mistakenly fear that frank conversations with their patients about death will harm them. Now, a new study confirms that these fears are unfounded; avoiding conversations about death provided no benefit while being direct with patients yielded a host of advantages.

Patients who received straight talk from doctors were no more likely to become depressed than patients whose doctors did not address death. They were less likely to spend their final days in hospitals, connected to machines, paying for futile care. Once they died, their families were more at peace. These findings come from a study of 603 patients whose cancer did not respond to chemotherapy. The Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston is publishing the results.

Being well-informed about death and their diagnosis gives patients the opportunity to explore options such as hospice care. Having a conversation early on about dying affords them the time to seek out resources pertaining to death and loss.

Every patient responds differently to a terminal diagnosis, but from an ethical standpoint, patients have the right to know their likelihood of survival. Mental and emotional preparation for death can help ease the process for both the patient and their family. The California Assembly believes so strongly in frankness about death, that they recently passed a bill requiring health care providers to give complete answers to dying patients who inquire about their options.

Some doctors are protesting the bill, insisting it interferes with proper medical practice. Why do so many doctors dodge the death discussion? Some fear that it will smother the patient's hope. For others it generates a sense that they have failed the patient if they quit battling the disease. But for many individuals, candid and honest conversations about death are a way to build trust, remove anxiety, and eliminate feelings of isolation.

"I like being told what my health condition is. I don't like beating around the bush," said one 67-year-old cancer patient. "We all have to die. I've had a very good life. Death is not something that was fearful to me."

Click here to read more. For resources on facing death and coping with loss, click here.