Understanding the Stages of Grief: Kubler-Ross Model

Psychologist Elizabeth Kubler Ross identified common stages that individuals go through when they lose someone dear to them. While these stages are common, everyone grieves differently.

Denial

• A person who has experienced a loss sometimes acts as if the loss did not occur. You might attempt to put the loss out of your mind. You may want to isolate yourself.

Anger

• Anger might grow against the individual who passed away or an individual who is perceived as responsible for the loss. A loss may also leave you with a vague, feeling of unexplained anger.

Bargaining

• Bargaining involves asking a higher power or fate to bring back the loved one in exchange for a deal. You may feel guilty and believe that one of your actions caused the loss.

Depression

• Sadness, lethargy and feelings of hopelessness can occur. The depression may be mild and pass or it could become clinical, requiring psychiatric treatment.

Acceptance

• Though you may never recover fully from the loss of a loved one, you may eventually come to accept death as inevitable. In doing so you are able to continue to live with the loss and to move beyond it.