Comment by hosh
2 years ago
Elisabeth Kubler-Ross's original conception on the 5 stages of grief was not a linear process where one progress from one stage to the next, ending in acceptance. Rather, it was meant as a way to start a conversation and gain a bit of self-awareness of the process. That helps start putting some of that shattered glass back together.
https://www.mcgill.ca/oss/article/health-history/its-time-le...
The 5 stages were from what I like to call the "just make shit up" era of psychology. Because if it sounded true it was psychology! Some would argue that era never ended, but I think that's just cynical.
https://www.nateliason.com/blog/psychology-myths
Why would you think the replication crisis is an artifact of cynicism? Are you perhaps in the denial stage? :-)
Repurposing a psychological model as a way to gain insight or start a conversation is one of the five stages of debunking.
/s
As someone who has multiple times had to face my own mortality and that has death seemingly always looming over me.
I think the 5 stages do make sense for self grief as it was originally researched, during time spent with those actually dying.
As someone who lost both parents in my early 20s I think it is helpful model to be aware of during the acute phase of a terminal diagnosis ... but yeah, it's inadequate in the extreme.
Denial, anger, and bargaining are coping mechanisms, so it shouldn’t be too surprising to see them appear when tightly-held beliefs and narratives are challenged by reality.