Although the circumstances are different in each case, being diagnosed with a life-threatening illness or dealing with the death of someone close both involve a set of stages. These five stages of grief include denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. The creator of this model, Kübler-Ross, outlined these stages not as a guideline of what a person needs to fulfill to complete their grieving, but rather as a reference for caretakers to understand what the individual is going through. In this way, although it is often written in the order listed above, people will often re-visit stages and even be in multiple stages at once (DeSpelder & Strickland, 2011).
It is natural for someone to express their emotions when they are faced with a situation where their longevity is shortened by illness. My personal experience with the sudden loss of someone close (my grandfather) has also helped me to understand that coping is not the same for everyone. However, I feel that these stages are important to know, not only so that we may better understand why we respond the way we do, but also to be able to help others dealing with times of grief. Oftentimes groups experiencing grief together are able to comfort each other, largely because they are able to sympathize because it affects them similarly. An outsider is also able to comfort those grieving as long as they can show compassion and support.
This short video from the cartoon, Robot Chicken, portrays these stages in a comical and exaggerated way. A giraffe stuck in a life-threatening situation rapidly goes through the 5 stages.
The five stages of grief; denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance are very important for people who have lost a loved one to be aware of. Although everyone has a different grieving experience, it is essential for these stages to be met to successfully cope and move on. When we face an unexpected death of a loved one, the first response we often face is denial. No one wants to believe that the person they love most is no longer alive, but once these five stages are experienced we can find it easier to deal with the loss.
ReplyDeleteI really like this example. It really does show the 5 stages. I have learned alot about each one in class. This example is a visual example of a giraffe stuck in quicksand and his reaction to every moment through the stages. Very good example and a great post!
ReplyDeleteAnother video to enlighten the idea of death. It's never easy to have to cope death. And sometimes a way of escape is through comedy. Although I could understand this being extremely offensive to someone whose recently lost a loved one I think that this is a great reminder of how we do tend to cope with things. I also think that this is the 5 stages to any stressful situation not only with death. Just think of Bruce almighty he deals with his "situation" in the same way of coping!
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