(1969) established that terminally ill patients undergo a reaction formation that can be divided into five discrete phases: (1) denial; (2) anger; (3) bargaining with God, self, family, doctors, and any other perceived power; (4) depression and helplessness; (5) acceptance. Stages can be linear, cyclical, repetitive, and one phase is not requisite for another. Caregivers may experience much the same reactions, whether family or health-care professionals, and children have been found to cue their comportment to suit the older people.
Children's behavior and psychoemotional experience during the dying process appear to be conditioned on the behavior and experience of adults surrounding them. Hoping against hope, a species of what Kubler-Ross terms denial, has been repeatedly documented in the care and treatment of adult terminally ill patients. Ironically, this has the effect of confining terminal children to hospital environments until the very last stages of disease. That does not necessarily serve the needs of the child, bu
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