Question

n 15. 1 Discuss Kubler-Ross's Theory of death and dying and the evaluation of the theory. Give your opinion, do you think everyone goes through theses stages?

Answer 1

Kubler Ross was a swiss psychiatrist and she introduced a five-stage grief model in her book On Death and Dying. Her work was based on ill patients and her ideas received much criticism as people who studied her model believed that this is the order in which people grieve and that all people go through all stages. However, she states that her model is not linear and every person might not experience all the stages but might go through 1 or 2 stages. The five stages of grief are Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression, and Acceptance.

Denial

In this stage to wonder how life will go on in this different state – you are in a state of shock because life as you once knew it, has changed in an instant. Example: If you were diagnosed with a deadly disease, you might believe the news is incorrect. The common thoughts that arise are- a mistake must have occurred somewhere in the lab, they mixed up your blood work with someone else. If you receive news on the death of a loved one, perhaps you cling to a false hope that they identified the wrong person.

Anger

This is a common stage to think “why me?” and “life’s not fair!” You might look to blame others for the cause of your grief and also may redirect your anger to close friends and family. You find it incomprehensible of how something like this could happen to you. If you are strong in faith, you might start to question your belief in God. “Where is God? Why didn’t he protect me?” Researchers and mental health professionals agree that this anger is a necessary stage of grief.

Bargaining

This stage is a false hope. Example when something bad happens, have you ever caught yourself making a deal with God? “Please God, if you heal my husband, I will strive to be the best wife I can ever be – and never complain again.” This is bargaining. You might falsely make yourself believe that you can avoid the grief through a type of negotiation.

Depression

Depression is a commonly accepted form of grief. Most people associate depression immediately with grief as it is a “present” emotion. It represents the emptiness we feel when we are living in reality and realize the person or situation is gone or over. In this stage, you might withdraw from life, feel numb, live in a fog, and not want to get out of bed. The world might seem too much and too overwhelming for you to face.

Acceptance

In this stage, your emotions may begin to stabilize and re-enter reality. It is a time of adjustment and readjustment. There are good days, there are bad days, and then there are good days again. In this stage, it does not mean you’ll never have another bad day – where you are uncontrollably sad. But, the good days tend to outnumber the bad days.

Talking about my opinion, yes everyone might go through these stages once in their life. However, age becomes a critical factor that influences whether the person will experience all these 5 stages or no. Example a child might not experience depression at such a tender age however when he grows up and starts facing the world and reality he might experience it.