Question

List and Describe the Kobler-Ross's psychological stages of dying. B) Would you make any modifications from the perspective of the dying person's experience, and if so what would you modify? C) Do these same stages apply to those who are grieving a loss (of a relationship, a death, parental divorce, etc.) and if so describe if and how you would modify the stages

Answer 1

Kobler-Ross identified five stages to grief over a dying person or to the knowledge of death -

1. Denial -It is a disbelief, expressing that one has not come in terms with the reality. They are denying the reality, and this is used for coping the situation. It is the initial stage until the person accepts the reality.

2. Anger -Person in the next stage, feel angry and frustrated and questions the reality. This anger should not be confronted, as it will subside eventually. It is the sudden shock and the unfortunate instance, happened to them, made them angry.

3. Bargain - Here, the person will bargain for a better situation. He feels helpless and wants to come out of it, at any cost.

4. Depression- The person realises that situations cannot be uplifted by bargaining and goes very depressed with the life.

5. Acceptance - this is the final stage, where the person has come in terms with the reality and has embraced it with calmness.

In the perspective of a dying person, I feel that the above mentioned accurately portrays the stages of dying. It is possible that not everybody will undergo all the stages. For example, in case of elderly person diagnosed with cancer, he may not go through first three stages - denial, anger and bargaining. This is because, they are already expecting death of old age. Since, they know it before hand, they may get depressed and eventually accept it.

People going through grieving loss of relationship, death etc, will undergo the same stages as above. However, elderly people may not grief in the same way for the death of others. Moreover, I think that, except for extremely matured and rational person, people with other personalities will pretty much go through the same stages, with no changes.