How do people feel dead?

Answer 1

Deceased persons at first still feel warm. This is because the most recent blood flowing through the body is still warm through action initiated by the brain (thermal regulation). Some families even swear they can feel a pulse, but this usually is from the living person feeling their own pulse when touching the deceased person's hand. Within hours, the body begins to cool (and the mistaken belief that a pulse was felt is no longer a belief). As well, a specific type of rigidity begins-- but, after some additional hours, that rigidity goes away. Bodies are taken to a morgue or holding area where temperatures are kept very cold to slow decomposition. Therefore, when the body is touched, it feels very cold. The skin looses its elasticity so it feels unmovable. Since there is no respiration, heart beat, or warmth, the body can feel hard or stiff in comparison to what we are accustomed to with a living person. The chest of a deceased person can almost feel like a "box" when a mourner "hugs" the body in the casket. At the funeral home, the body may be embalmed (but this is not required in all US States or in all countries). The body is then washed, dressed, and the hair washed and styled. Make-up is applied to the face, (even males) mostly to hide the paleness of death. Some families ask that perfume be applied to deceased women; or cologne to deceased men.