Stages of Grief and the Elections?

On August 31, 2008, the New York Times published an article entitled “Can You Cross Out ‘Hillary’ and Write ‘Sarah’?”  It commented on the loss of Senator Clinton to Senator Obama in the presidential primaries and the choice of Sarah Palin for Republican vice presidential candidate.

The article began on page 1 and continued on page 7 where one of Senator Clinton’s supporters and a former counsel to President Bill Clinton, Mr. Lanny Davis, said about himself (quoting the Times) “that he was riding such a roller coaster of emotions that he finally Googled Elisabeth Kubler Ross’s five stages of grief.

“Denial, yes,” he said.  ”Anger, definitely.  Bargaining, well, O.K.  And depression, that’s definitely what I was going through.” (end of quote)

Today, we have gone so far beyond the stages – they were a first attempt at trying to make sense out of the grief following the death of a loved one.  At least, Kubler-Ross put the subject of death on our public agenda almost thirty years ago.

But the stages have become so deeply rooted in lore that now even the loss of a primary election is equated with grief, and the stages are resorted to for a comforting explanation of one’s emotions!

For additional information, you can  also click on the VA Tech-Grief Stages button on my website www.coping-with-loss-and-grief.com

Please DO share with us your opinion of and/or experience with these stages!  Have you experienced any of them, in any particular order, or do you wonder about their concepts – denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance?

And what do you think of their application to an election loss?

We value your opinion!

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Dr. Weide

Tags: bereavement, coping with grief, death, grief, grief alexandria, grief bethesda, grief counseling, grief groups, grief maryland, grief support, grief virginia, grief washington dc, grieving, stages of grief, weide