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Popular Culture Review
AIDS and confronting their mortality. The theoretical framework hinges on
Elisabeth Kubler-Ross’ five stages of death theory and is augmented by an
alternative approach, the task-based theory, often cited in the literature of death
and dying. In Kubler-Ross’ first stage of death, the initial reaction of a terminally
ill person is denial. The need for denial exists in every patient, but at the beginning
of a serious illness more so than toward the end of life. She adds that denial is
usually a temporary defense and is soon replaced with partial acceptance (51-61).
After the first stage of denial cannot be maintained any longer, Kubler-Ross observes
that it is replaced by feelings of anger, rage, envy, and resentment. The terminally
ill person asks “Why me?” and becomes filled with anger and rage when no clear
answer emerges (63-65). The third stage of Kubler-Ross’ theory involves
bargaining, in which a terminally ill person seeks to postpone the inevitable by
making promises of living a better life or being a better person if more time could
be granted. Kubler-Ross states that the patient believes “there is a slim chance that
he may be rewarded for good behavior and be granted a wish for special services.
His wish is most always an extension of life...” (93-95). Depression, the fourth
stage of death, emerges when the terminally ill patient can no longer deny the
symptoms and the body is steadily becoming weaker. At this point, the patient’s
stoicism, anger, and rage are replaced with a sense of great loss. Kubler-Ross cites
two types of depression facing the dying: a reactive depression, in which the patient
confronts the numerous consequences of being seriously ill, such as loss of job
and financial burdens; and a preparatory depression, in which the patient takes
into account impending losses, such as separation from loved ones, once death
occurs (97-100). The final stage of death is acceptance, in which the patient will
have mourned the impending loss of family and friends and is contemplating death
with a degree of quiet expectation (123-25).
Meanwhile, an alternative theory cited in the literature concerns Charles A.
Corr’s task-based approach to coping with dying. Four aspects of “task work” are
identified by Com bodily needs, psychological security, interpersonal attachments,
and spiritual energy and hope. The goal of this approach is to deal with the dying
person in a holistic manner rather than addressing only specific symptoms and
problems. Individual differences are acknowledged and broad generalizations aie
avoided because “they obscure the distinctive qualities of the individual and do
not achieve universal validity” (88). According to Kastenbaum and Thuell, the
task-based model is the most inclusive of the approaches because attention is given
to the coping efforts of the dying person, family members, friends, and caregivers
(178).
Corr states that the physical aspects of coping with dying primarily concern
addressing bodily needs and the minimization of physical distress. Basic bodily needs
involve nutrition, hydration, and elimination, as well as obtaining shelter from the