T U E S D AY S W I T H M O R R I E

A review of The 5 Stages of Greif

Health Science 2 CNA

Nolan

Elizabeth Kubler-Ross• Swiss/American Psychiatrist• Published her research as a

book• Kubler Ross states that these

stages are universal, but not permeant

Someone may experience anger, than go into depression, or experience all of the stages expect for acceptance, and dies never accepting their outcome of death.

STAGES OF DEATH & DYING

TUESDAYS WITH MORRIE

A heartfelt memoir/movie that

looks at the last days of a

professor, Morrie, suffering

with ALS, with his past college

student, Mitch.

STAGES OF DEATH & DYING

Denial

Anger

Bargaining

Depression

Acceptance

DENIAL

“Not, not me!”

Includes feelings of• Shock• Numbness• Disbelief

This stage protects

people from the

realization of what is

actually occurring.

DENIAL

Morrie consciously "detaches himself from the experience" when he suffers his violent coughing spells

Morrie derives his method of detachment from the Buddhist philosophy • One should not cling to things,

as everything that exists is impermanent

Morrie is able to step out of his tangible surroundings and into his own state of consciousness, explicitly for the sake of gaining perspective and composure in a stressful situation.

ANGER

“Why!”

Anger comes in many forms. Angers at…• Your love ones• Others• God • World • Yourself

People who suppress their anger turn it inward, toward

themselves• Guilt • “I should have done something…”• “Bettered my life…”

ANGER

Morrie speaking of his favorite uncle• Taught him to drive• Teases him like a father would• Taught him the love of music

“That’s who [he wanted] to be when [he grew] up”.

His guilt for turning a shoulder toward his uncle’s pain (ignoring the signs of death.

Moorie feels like he owes his uncle because he believes he let him die.

BARGAININGGambling w/ fate

In bargaining there’s a sense that we just want

life back to the way it used to be.• Wanting to replace those inevitable moments in

life.

Feeling guilty; focusing on “if only…”

Religion • Some get closer to religion• Some lose faith, asking God “why?”• Some become religious, asking God to spare their

lives

BARGAINING

“In the absence of love, there is a void that can filled only by loving human relationships.”

Morrie divulges that love is the essences of every person, and every relationship, and that to live without it, is “to live with nothing”.• Moorie clings to life not because he is afraid of death

but because he wishes to share his story with Mitch, in hope that he will share it with the world.

Moorie says he is “bargaining with him up there” to let him live to express those feelings with Mitch.• This is the first time Moorie talks about religion

DEPRESSION

Deeper level of grief:• Melancholy • Worthlessness

Things become a burden• Exhaustion and apathy can set in• “What’s the point?”

Not a clinical depression, but rather a bereavement and

mourning period.

DEPRESSION

“When you’re in bed, you’re dead”

Throughout Morrie’s struggle

with ALS, he refuses to stay in bed • Seen as a form of surrender

Morrie associates the bed with:• Depression• Solitude

Nightmares of his father while in

bed,

ACCEPTANCE

Okay with the outcome

Doesn’t mean the person is “cured” or “all

right” with the situational outcome• Ready to try and move on• Accommodating ourselves to the outcome

When people experience the depth, flavor, and

subtlety to life.

ACCEPTANCE

Morrie recounts a story of a small wave• The small wave seeing the waves ahead of him crash on the share and

disappearing into nothingness• Morrie suddenly brims with fear upon the realization that he too will

soon “crash on the shore”• The bigger waves comfort the small one with news that he return to

become a small part of the larger ocean

The small wave is symbolic of Morrie, as he too is on the brink of

crashing into a theoretical shore, a symbolic embodiment of his death.• Like the wave, Moore is comforted by the knowledge that he will soon

return to something large in afterlife.• Morrie’s affinity for the parable creates the understanding of

acceptance – the fact that he knows he is too of something bigger