The Process of Grieving
Uploaded by Abe on Apr 08, 2001
Grief is a range of emotions and behaviours shown by people when confronted with a sudden loss. This range is divided up into a number of stages, or a process of grief. Doctor Granger Westburg developed 10 stages that illustrated these emotions linked with behaviour and then was followed by a number of people who developed another process of several stages based on this original theory.
Doctor Westburg discovered that grief is a process, not a state, after observing these faced with loss. He noted 10 stages, which are: shock; emotional release; isolation; physical symptoms; complete inability to cope with life; guilt; anger; inability to get back to normal activities; a return to reality; and then back to normal. These stages occur mainly in order, but some show later or arise when something affects the person the wrong way, this is when they go through several stages at one time.
In the film "Thunder in my Head" were shown a woman, Bekky Saunders, a month after her husband died in a car accident. This movie is seen at her first back at work. At work, a discussion with her boss activates a chain reaction of stages, from anger to isolation, which then leads to emotional release and some physical symptoms. These all include some anger towards her husband and the police, isolation because she wants to spend the night at home. She, during the night, is overcome with sadness that she has to sit down, wear the dead husband's coat, as well as walking around her house yelling out words of bereavement and distress. All through the day she is angry with everyone, including her mother. Her friend that she has always been with at nights since the accident was forced to come back in the early hours of the morning to Bekky's house. Bekky was disrupted by her friend, from her grieving process by the friend coming over.
On the same scale is the grieving process for the dying, outlined and illustrated by Elizabeth Kubler-Ross. This theory consists of: shock/denial; rage/anger; bargaining; depression (which is broken into two groups - reactive and weaning off); and finally acceptance.
The first stage, is apparent when the patient hears the news for the first time, and starts saying phrases like, "no, not me" and "it can't be me". The patient then goes to denial, saying "the results are wrong", or "could you check...