5 Steps of Grief(Psycho 101)

If you’ve ever attended an entry-level college Psychology course, you wouldn’t be able to escape learning about the 5 Stages Of Grief, as prescribed in the Kübler-Ross model.

The 5 stages describe phases that an individual goes through in the event of finding out about a terminal illness, death of a loved one, loss of a job, or some other catastrophic event the the individual’s life.

Here’s a quick run-through of each phase:

Denial

The first phase is denial. Basically, the person can’t believe that something so bad is happening to him that he chooses to deny its existence.

Anger

The second phase basically describes the emotion of a person who feels resentful. She blames God for her cancer, she is angry at her husband for dying early and leaving her with 4 kids to feed.

Bargaining

Bargaining is when the person tries to find a way to reason with the cards that he has been dealt with. A common bargaining situation is when the man asks God to let him live longer so that he can walk his daughter down the aisle on her wedding day.

Depression

Upon realizing that she has no power over stopping the event, she usually slips into a depressed state of mind and an overwhelming feeling of sadness engulfs her.

Acceptance

The final phase. This is when the person finally accepts the situation and decides to deal with it. He knows that it is time to get on with his life, and continuously feeling angry or sad will do nothing to solve his problem.