Five Stages of Dying

Some days ago, we talked about the five stage of adying that a person goes through when he or she is dying from our textbook. These stages were outlined by Elisabeth Kubler-Ross in her book On Death and Dying (1969).

First stage, Denial: the patient attempts to deny that the condition is fatal. This is a period of shock and disbelief.
Second stage, Anger: The patient may vent anger at a number of individuals---at the physician for not doing enough, at relatives for outliving. They are looking for a scapegoat.
Third stage, Bargaining: my include promises to God in exchange for an extension of life, following by the wish for a few days without pain or physical discomfort. The promise is rarely kept.
Fourth stage, Depression: the patient begins to realize that a mistake was not made, and the prognosis is not good. The patient realizes that meaningful things of life will be lost as death approaches. They become sad.
Fifth stage, Acceptance: the patient accepts death as a sure outcome. The patients is not happy but he or she has accept it.

Her five stages do have critics. One reason is that not all patients go through the stages in the order she said they will. While we was reading the stages I started to think do the people around the dying patients go through the same stages too. I ask this because when my aunt died I believe I went through about two or three of those stages myself.