"Everyone waited, made calls, and sent text messages. Finally, after two hours, they called the police department in Mark's hometown. Could you do a wellness check? My brother is not answering his phone, and we're wondering if something has happened. Within minutes, the worst possible outcome emerged. "I'm sorry. We found your brother unresponsive." Mark was 68 years old. One year older than I am now. Mark was dead."
"We all fear experiencing similar situations. Sometimes we wonder how we would respond. In fact, watching movies, reading books, and short stories is one way that humans steel ourselves and prepare our psyches for the unexpected. We love to consume tragedies, comedies, romance, action, and even action-adventure. How would you react if an intruder entered your home in the middle of the night? How would you feel if you ran into a high school boyfriend 25 years later?"
"When we hear about a life cut short, we experience a version of the same stages Elisabeth Kübler-Ross made famous in her book On Death and Dying (1969). Kübler-Ross named the five stages of grief as denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance (though people may skip stages, experience them out of any order, or experience any emotion, including shock, yearning, or anxiety)."
Paul and Susan hosted a holiday dinner attended by Susan's mother Adele, their son Zach, and other family members. Susan's brother Mark failed to arrive, prompting calls and texts for two hours. The family asked the local police for a wellness check and were told, "I'm sorry. We found your brother unresponsive." Mark, age 68, was dead. The experience underscores common human fears about sudden loss and the inadequacy of fictional rehearsals. Consuming movies and stories can steel psyches, but real grief often unfolds through denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance, with possible shock, yearning, or anxiety and varied order.
Read at Psychology Today
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