I was sitting around the other day considering the Kubler-Ross model and it came to me that now infamous cycle of descriptions is how the human mind works at problems even in small scale.
For instance given the problem of driving upon a detour on the way to work:
1) Denial - "No way this is happening to me right now.."
2) Anger - "Why do they have to do this today?!"
3) Bargaining - "Perhaps if I can squeeze through I can take a different route, or maybe they'll let me through considering..."
4) Depression - "Oh man now I'm gonna be late for work and I'll hear about it!"
5) Acceptance - "Well they'll just have to understand that there is work being done over here, and it is easy to prove."
This all happens within seconds normally. After thinking about that it makes sense that this should be so. Let's examine these stages and what they represent.
1) Denial - We are questioning whether or not the problem exists.
2) Anger - We acknowledge the problem, evidenced by emotion.
3) Bargaining - We search and decide whether or not we have the power to affect the problem.
- If we do not have the power to change the problem significantly then we move on to stages 4 and 5. However if we can effectively diminish the problem enough we take a different route, no longer proceeding toward stages 4 and 5.
4) Depression - We acknowledge our powerlessness, evidenced by emotion.
5) Acceptance - With a new understanding we set forth in a new direction.
Sound simple to me. When there's a problem humans make certain it exists, decide what power we have over the situation and either exercise such power or move on in eventual acceptance of the new reality.
-KT
