The 5 stages of Grief

By: Auna C.And

Tyler C.

Elizabeth Kubler-RossShe was born July 8, 1926 and died August

24, 2004A swiss born psychiatrist Author of the groundbreaking book “On

Death and Dying” (1969), where she first discussed what is now know as the Kubler-Ross model.

A 2007 inductee into the National Women’s Hall of Fame

She was the recipient of twenty honorary degrees

Elizabeth continued.. By July 1982 she had taught approximately,

125,000 students in death and dying courses in colleges, seminaries, medical schools, hospitals, and social-work institutions.

In 1970, she delivered the, The Ingersoll Lectures on Human Immortality at the University of Harvard, on the theme, “On Death and Dying”

IN 1979, she hand wrote and illustrated “The Dougy Letter” for a young boy that was dying of cancer. This book explains life and death in a way that children can under stand.

5 Stages Of Grief 1. Denial2. Anger3. Bargaining4. Depression5. AcceptanceIn general most individual experience most of these

stages, though in no defined sequence, after faced with the reality of their impending death.

The five stages have been adopted by many as applying to the survivors of a loved one’s death also.

Stage 1 Denial The first stage of grieving helps us to survive the

loss.In this stage the world becomes meaningless and

overwhelming, life makes no sense.In stage of shock and denial.Denial and shock helps us to cope and make

survival possible.Denial also helps us to pace our feelings of grief.As you accept the reality of the loss and start to

ask yourself questions, you are unknowingly beginning the healing process.

Stage 2 AngerNecessary stage of the healing process. Anger may seem endlessThe more your truly feel it, the more it will begin to

dissipate and the more you will heal.Anger is the emotion we are most used to

managing.Underneath anger is pain, your pain.It is natural to feel deserted and abandoned, but

we live in society that fears anger. Your anger becomes a bridge over the open sea, a

connection from you and them

Anger continued…Still angry Anger feels better than nothing at this point.We usually know more about suppressing

anger than feeling it.The anger is just another indication of the

intensity of your love for that person.

Stage 3 Bargaining Before a loss, it seems like you will do anything if

only your loved one would be spared “Please God?!” After a loss, bargaining may take the form of a

temporary truce, you try to make deals.We become lost in a maze of “If only…” or “what

if..”, regret becomes inevitable.We want to go back in time.Guilt is often bargaining’s companion.The “if only” cause us to find fault in ourselves and

what we “think” we could have done differently. We will do anything not to feel the pain of this loss.

Stage 4 Depression… SO SAD!After bargaining, our attention moves

squarely into the present. Empty feelings present themselves, grief

enters our life on a deeper level, deeper than we ever imagined.

This stage feels as though it will last forever.An appropriate response to a great loss.We withdrawal from life, left in fog of intense

sadness.Depression after a loss is too often seen as

unnatural.

Depression Continued.. Still sad?First question to ask yourself is whether or

not the situation your in is actually depressing.

To not experience depression after a loved one dies would be unusual.

If grief is a process of healing, then depression is one of the many necessary steps along the way.

Stage 5 Acceptance Often confused with the notion of being “all

right” or “okay”The reality that our loved one is physically

gone and recognizing that this new reality is the permanent reality.

We will never like it but eventually accept it.At first many people want to maintain life as

it was before.We see that we cannot maintain the past

intact.

Acceptance Continued..Move onWe must learn to reorganize roles, re-assign

them to others or take them on ourselves.Finding acceptance may be just having good

days than bad ones.Often we feel we are betraying our lost loved

one by moving on.We can never replace what has been lost, but

we can make new connections and new relationships.

We begin to live again, but not until we have given grief its time.

Interesting FactsElisabeth was one of triplets.She graduated from medical school at the

University of Zurich in 1957.She came to the U.S in 1958.Her book has been translated into more than

twenty-five languages.“My goal was to break through the layer of

professional denial that prohibited patients from airing their inner-most concerns.”

1995, she suffered a series of major strokes, left her paralyzed and facing her own death.

THANK YOU!