Conspiración de silencio: ¿ayuda o agonía?

The conspiracy of silence or pact of silence, defined as "the implicit or explicit agreement by part of relatives, friends and/or medical team, of altering the information given to the patient in order to hide the diagnosis and/or prognosis and/or seriousness of the situation", is presented as a possibility for those people who live a moment of imminent death among one of their beloved ones. The ill patient can be conscious and accept concealment with his/her full powers, adaptive conspiracy, or, on the contrary, the conspiracy of silence can go against his/her will, maladaptive conspiracy. This last case is the one which arouses great commotion and diversity of opinions regarding morality and legitimacy of carrying out maladaptive conspiracy. The text aims to reveal the reality behind the conspiracy of silence, with the target of explaining the drawbacks that this pact causes in the three stages of the affected triangle: patient, family members and/or friends, and medical team. With effects such as anxiety, fear, uncertainty, mistrust and isolation, the conspiracy of silence tends to suppose more an agony than an aid when facing a situation of terminal illness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]