Common Emotional Responses to Chronic Conditions

Emotional responses to chronic conditions vary widely. However, in order to anticipate and cope with emotions surrounding a chronic condition, you first need to consider some valid generalizations that may be made.   We introduce you here to the Kϋbler-Ross stage theory of adaptation to loss.   The Kubler-Ross stages were constructed by Dr. Elizabeth Kubler-Ross in 1969 in her book "On Death and Dying".

Initially postulated as a process through which patients with terminal conditions (such as cancer) progress, the stages of grief can also apply to the experience of life losses other than death.   Children with disabilities, their families and healthcare providers experience significant loss and grief; and therefore the Kubler-Ross stages are relevant. Understanding one of the most widely accepted models for grief and loss can provide insight to common interpersonal interactions, as well as insight into our own reactions as physicians.

The following information about stages of loss can be used as a tool to assist in conceptualizing grief. Grief responses of patients, parents and siblings, and physicians are considered separately.

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