Death & Dying & The Family Members

One of the more influential works on the subject of death and dying is that of Elisabeth K?bler-Ross. Her thesis is that when people are forced to face death either in terms of coming to grips with the death of a loved one or even with their own imminent death they pass through certain stages in their thinking. These stages are repeated in every instance as part of the grieving process. They are identified by K?bler-Ross as denial and isolation, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. K?bler-Ross examines each of these in turn and relates them to the grieving process both for dying patients and their families. She begins with an assessment of the fear we have of death and dying and a discussion of some of the attitudes that prevail on the subject. The stages detailed by K?bler-Ross have been derived from discussions with dying patients and show what has been learned from these patients in terms of coping mechanisms at the time of a terminal illness. They are applicable to the grieving relatives as well as to the person who is terminally ill. In the broadest sense, the author says that these stages are something through which individuals pass whenever they are faced with tragic news

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r, Cain, Kalter, & Lohnes (1999) note, are the stressors of lengthy illness in terms of the trauma of exposure and the many dislocations involved in caring for the dying. However, as the authors also note, anticipation may be less valuable for young children because these children first have a more limited cognitive ability to understand the finality of death. Children may also benefit less from the opportunity to say goodbye. Children also may have a greater need than adults to deny an impending death. Children have no social role such as widow or widower, so there is nothing to be gained for the child by being prematurely socialized into a new role. Indeed, too often they are forced into a new and burdensome identity for which they are not prepared, such as being told, "Now you are the man of the house." One of the most damaging elements for the child is the fact that the parents are not able to attend to the child's needs as in normal circumstances (Saldinger, Cain, Kalter, & Lohnes, 1999, 39-40). Adolescents face particular issues when losing a parent. the response of adolescents to the death of a parent involves a complex interaction of feelings, thoughts, and behaviors, and research shows that social support is one
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Some common words found in the essay are:
Elisabeth Kbler-Ross, Recovery Handbook, Gilewski Thompson, Kalter Lohnes, Recovery Institute, Dillon Brassard, , Mahon MM, DH Brassard, Brown FH, james 1986, grieving person, social support, grief recovery, cain kalter lohnes, lohnes 1999, cain kalter, saldinger cain, mental health, kalter lohnes, death dying, gilewski thompson 1992, gallagherthompson gilewski thompson, saldinger cain kalter, kalter lohnes 1999,
Approximate Word count = 2040
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page)

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