Listening to terminally ill patients, Elisabeth Kübler-Ross heard five recurring emotional responses to facing death. Step through each stage — and notice why it is a framework, not a fixed path.
A patient facing the news
The five stagestap a stage, or press Next to begin
DABDA — Denial · Anger · Bargaining · Depression · Acceptance. Named by Kübler-Ross in On Death and Dying (1969).
Not a checklist. People rarely move through these in a neat order — stages are skipped, repeated, or felt at once, and not everyone reaches acceptance. The model was later extended to grief and other major losses.