No five stages of grief

[aimeee, BSN, RN]

This article in Scientific American's Mind and Brain suggests that research has not found supporting evidence for a progression through Kubler Ross' five stages of grief, despite the theory's popular acceptance.

http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=five-fallacies-of-grief

[CapNurse09]

Interesting article. Having been on this planet for a while now, I feel that if you truly experience grief you will at some point go through all five stages.

You may regress, stay in one stage for a very long or very short time, but ultimately for one to truly experience grief and recover you must go through all five stages.

Thanks for sharing this article and the great website.

[SuesquatchRN, BSN, RN]

Kubler-Ross only put it out there as an observation and it has taken on a life of its own.

[marachne]

Kubler-Ross only put it out there as an observation and it has taken on a life of its own.

I think the biggest problem (beside the fact that there is no empirical evidence) is that somehow it became seen as a linear thing -- you go though stage 1, then 2, etc.

I haven't heard anyone in the field defend K-R's theory in the field in a long time.

Doesn't mean there isn't worth to her work, but it sure ain't gospel!

Not exactly the same, but a similar thing happened to Maslow -- he never meant it to be seen as strict formula -- and we have all seen people who put "higher level" needs before "lower level" ones.

[Atheos]

I was under the impression that the 5 stages were not law. Not everyone goes through all of the stages and they don't always go in order.

I've even seen people repeat a stage.

[marachne]

I was under the impression that the 5 stages were not law. Not everyone goes through all of the stages and they don't always go in order.

I've even seen people repeat a stage.

It's not a "law" or even a "rule" but there are those who like simple answers and there can be a tyranny of linearity.

I lay at least some of the blame on how US culture is so good at taking subtle, nuanced, concepts and boils it down to an "essence" that looses the point.

Kind of like how popular media regularly reports on research findings in terms that don't even really make sense if you read the actual study.

[leslie :-D]

It's not a "law" or even a "rule" but there are those who like simple answers and there can be a tyranny of linearity.

absolutely nothing linear about stages of dying, for sure.

kr proposed a gen'l observation amongst dying pts.

as such, it can be used as a tool when educating those working w/terminal pts.

but yes, these 'stages' can and do, bounce all over the place...

which is sometimes challenging to explain to those accustomed to concrete thinking.

while a physical death is entirely absolute, there are several dimensions of death that make it anything but.

difficult concept for some to grasp...

esp living in a society where we want definitive answers.

this just isn't going to happen in hospice.

leslie