Death and dying is a very emotional topic of conversation among

patients and the patients family because even though death is an

inevitable reality, its acceptance is still painful and difficult.
One Swiss psychiatrist, inspired by her work with the terminally ill,
introduced the first model to aid patients and their families in the process
of grieving. Elisabeth Kbler-Ross in her 1969 book, On Death and Dying,
first popularized the Kbler-Ross model, or the five stages of grief. This is a
series of emotional stages experienced by survivors of an intimate's
death, wherein the five stages are denial, anger, bargaining, depression
and acceptance.
The first stage of grief is denial. This is where the patient or family
cannot deal with the fact that things are over, and will never be the same.
In this situation, the patient imagines a false, preferable reality instead.
This is the foremost reaction to an imminent death of a loved one, the loss
of a job, major rejection, the end of a relationship or divorce, drug
addiction, incarceration, the onset of a disease or chronic illness, an
infertility diagnosis, and even minor losses.
Anger follows the stage of denial. The patient or family recognizes
that denial cannot continue, it becomes frustrated, especially at proximate
individuals, for example the care givers of the dying. Often, this stage can
be determined when the patient or family expresses would be: "Why me?
It's not fair!"; "How can this happen to me?".
The next stage after anger is the stage of bargaining. This involves
the hope that they can avoid a cause of grief and the impending result.

Usually, the negotiation for an extended life is made with a higher power
(God) in exchange for a reformed or changed lifestyle. Other times,
individuals will use anything valuable against another human agency to
extend or prolong the life. People facing less serious trauma or
circumstances can bargain or seek compromise.
The fourth stage of grief is depression. Depression is concisely
defined as feelings of severe despondency and dejection. According to
Kbler-Ross, the patient becomes saddened by the certainty and
inevitability of death. In this stage, the individual may become silent,
refuse visitors and spend much of the time mournful and sullen.
In the last stage of grief, also known as acceptance, individuals
embrace mortality or inevitable future, or that of a loved one, or other
tragic event. People dying may precede the survivors in this state, which
typically comes with a calm, retrospective view for the individual, and a
stable condition of emotions. However, the Kbler-Ross model holds that
there are individuals who struggle with death until the end. Some
psychologists believe that the harder a person fights death, the more
likely they will be to stay in the denial stage resulting to the patient
having more difficulty dying in a dignified way.
When a person is approaching death and is going through the five
stages model Kbler-Ross believed that person wanted to review his or her
life, the illness he or she has, and his or her imminent death. When a
patient and caregiver could discuss this courageously and candidly a good
death would be possible.

These five stages are not meant to be complete or chronological.

Not everyone who experiences a life-threatening or life-changing event
feels all five of the responses nor will everyone who does experience them
do so in the order. Reactions to illness, death, and loss are as unique as
the person experiencing them.

Bibliography
Bugg, L. (2011, August 31). Dr. Kubler Ross- Stages of Grief. Retrieved
June 4, 2015, from http://www.relationshiptalk.net/dr.-kubler-ross-stagesof-grief-1178.html.
Kellehear, A. (n.d.). On Death and Dying. Retrieved June 4, 2015, from
http://www.ekrfoundation.org/five-stages-of-grief/.
Morrow, A. (2014, July 7). DABDA: The Five Stages of Coping with Death.
Retrieved

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http://dying.about.com/od/glossary/g/DABDA.htm.

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