Death, Dying, and Bereavement: An Analysis of Kübler-Ross's Five Stages of Grief
Overview
This paper examines Elizabeth Kübler-Ross's five-stage model of grief and dying (DABDA), detailing how terminally ill patients progress through denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. The paper analyzes each stage's characteristics and psychological mechanisms, illustrating how patients cope with their diagnosis and mortality through various emotional and cognitive responses.
What this essay covers
- Denial Stage: Patient defense mechanisms and shock response to diagnosis
- Anger Stage: Patient's emotional volatility, envy, and frustration with their condition
- Bargaining Stage: Patient attempts to negotiate with higher powers or healthcare providers to maintain control
- Depression Stage: Patient experiences fatigue, anhedonia, and existential despair
- Acceptance Stage: Patient reconciles with reality and begins practical preparations for death
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Death, Dying, and Bereavement
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Death, Dying, and Bereavement
According to Elizabeth Kubler Ross's book, there are five stages in which an ill patient undergoes the death process. This includes Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression, and Acceptance (DABDA) (Kübler-Ross, & Kessler, 2009).
- Denial Stage- In this stage, the patient develops a defensive mechanism in that he/she is escaping reality. According to the author, patents at first deny the diagnosis results, and they are in shock of accepting the truth.
- Anger Stage- In this stage, the patient is already composed of reality. However, most in this stage involve the patient experience and expression towards everything (Kübler-Ross, & Kessler, 2009). The patient at this stage is always hot-tempered and easily losses patience. The patient always envies others since he/she feels. Why me?
- Bargaining Stage- In this stage, the patient is a dilemmatic situation and measures control over the sickness. The patient can negotiate internally, such as communicating with God or with the family member and other healthcare workers (Kübler-Ross, & Kessler, 2009). The patient may decide either to respond to treatment or may feel that he/she is making the family members suffer, thus building up guilt and stigma.
- Depression- In this stage, the patient starts to experience strange feelings such as fatigue, anhedonia, and sadness. At this point, the patient now realizes that the reality is overwhelming, and the situation has gone over and over (Kübler-Ross, & Kessler, 2009).