Stages Of Dying

Thanatology, or the study of death and dying, has gone through significant growth since the 1950s, when Herman Feifel’s “Meanings of Death” was introduced to the behavioral science field. Before then, dying and death were mainly the concerns of poets and mystics. Death was considered a word to be avoided as much as possible by physicians, and as a topic of restriction even by psychologists.

Since that time the research and writings of Robert Fulton, Elisabeth Kubler-Ross, among others, have helped to make thanatology a serious area of scientific research and discussion.

Even though all dying people do not show a terminal drop in their abilities and actions, many of them do realize when they are about to die (Kalish & Reynolds, 1981). This epiphany affects different people in different ways. People who no longer want to live may give up without putting on a fight and die fairly quickly.

When they lose their will to survive, they embrace death as the ultimate solution to all their problems.

Another group of severely ill people are those those who find themselves unable to cope with the pain and frustration of long term illness but are also afraid of death itself, continually battling between a desire to live and a wish to die. This constant conflict between dying and living is worsened when the person has one or more dependents but is afraid of becoming a burden on them.

What Are The Stages Of Dying

Even when they are not told directly by a family member, a friend, a doctor or a nurse, a large majority of terminally ill patients realize that they are going to die in the very near future.

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They sense it in the changes in their bodies and the attitudes of other people. Consequently, an honest report on the part of others frequently comes as no surprise but simply confirms what the patient suspected all along (Kubler-Ross, 1969). Whether they desire to die sooner or later, it is generally acknowledged that people can, through their own attitudes and behavior, either hasten or delay their own death.

Having accepted the fact that death is imminent, they may even decide on a particular time for it to occur. Stages in Dying The stage theory of Elisabeth Kubler-Ross, as well as of many other researchers, is related to the “time,” dimension of the dying process. Kubler-Ross’s (1969) stage theory was formulated from an analysis of her interviews with over 200 dying patients. She argued that it is important for health workers and families of dying patient’s to be observant and aware of these progressive stages.