5 Stages of Grief

Kubler-Ross Model of 5 Stages of Death Daniel Redwood, D. C. (1995) mentioned the 5 stages of death was introduced by Elisabeth Kubler-Ross in the book On Death and Dying (1956). The 5 stages of death is also known as Kubler-Ross Model. According to this model, there are 5 stages that a person will face when he or she is going through death or is about to lose someone they love or have just lost their loved ones. The 5 stages are Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression and the final stage is Acceptance (as citied in Elisabeth K. B. , 1956).

The 5 stages will be further explained as below. The first stage is ‘Denial’. In this stage, people who are about to die or have lost their loved ones will be very numb and they will find that there is no purpose in life. Besides that, during this stage, one will not be able to focus in their life and will usually lose their hope. Through being in denial, one will be able to cope and thus making survival to be possible once again. Being in the denial stage also protects them from being overwhelm with the anxiety that they are about to die or have lost their loved ones.

Another important reason why one will be in this stage, is because they are unable to accept the reality that they are about to die or have lost their loved ones ( Elisabeth K. B. , 1956). The second stage of death is ‘Anger’. In the ‘Anger’ stage, one will usually be feeling very angry because they got that particular sickness or because they have lost their loved ones. They feel angry because they feel it’s not fair for them to fall sick or for their loved ones to fall sick. This is mainly due to the reason of belief that they have lived a balanced and healthy life. Therefore, they should not easily fall sick and face death.

During this stage, the person will usually have a targeted person to release their anger. Usually, the person who is facing death due to some terminal illness will release their anger towards the doctor who is treating them, immediate family members or the person who is taking care of them. According to Axelrod, J. (2006), doctors usually becomes the targeted person because the doctor was not able to find a cure or treatment for the illness that the person is facing. This may be due to the stereotype that doctors should be able to treat and cure all of their patient’s sickness.

Family members and the immediate person who is taking care of the person who is facing death becomes the targeted person because the person who is facing death will usually be filled with anger and disappointment due to the fact that they are about to leave their loved ones and not be able to ever see them again. After the ‘Anger’ stage, comes the ‘Bargaining’ stage. According to Elisabeth, K. B. (1956), just before we are about to lose our loved ones, the bargaining stage comes in the form of ‘doing anything and everything’ to spare the life of your loved ones, so that we are able to see them survive and continue living.

The bargaining usually involves spirituality, where one will look towards a higher Being for miracle to take place. After a loss, bargaining will appear in the form of “What if.. ” or “If only.. ” statements. This is because, we would wish if we could have return to the past and change things so that we would not have lost our loved ones. The next stage is ‘Depression’. Elisabeth, K. B. (1956) mentioned right after the ‘Bargaining’ stage, we will step into the present state. Feeling of emptiness, sorrow and grief will be very deep and at times unbearable.

During this stage, one will feel as though this depression will always be there. Elisabeth, K. B. (1956) also state that the stage of depression is normal when one has lost their loved ones. Finally, we will go through the ‘Acceptance’ stage. During this stage, we have finally accepted the reality and able to live in the present. We may not like the reality, however we have learned to accept. We have finally made a way to be able to continue living our life and move on. Instead of denying the past, one will be able to change, grow and continue living