Elisabeth Kübler-Ross

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Elisabeth Kübler-Ross (born July 8, 1926 in Zurich , † August 24, 2004 in Scottsdale , Arizona ) was a Swiss - American psychiatrist and spiritual healer . She dealt with death and dealing with the dying , with mourning and mourning work as well as near death experiences and is one of the founders of modern death research .

Life

Elisabeth Kübler-Ross was born as a triplet sister and a businessman's daughter in Zurich in 1926. In 1957 she completed her medical degree at the University of Zurich . In 1958 she moved to the USA with her husband Emanuel "Manny" Ross. After stays in New York and Denver in 1965 she became an assistant professor of psychiatry at the Medical Faculty of the University of Chicago . There she took part in clinic pastoral care seminars to accompany the dying. She saw herself as an intuitive psychiatrist and her commitment to the dying as her calling.

Her honesty, in her opinion, was at odds with the way medicine was normally practiced in hospitals. She found that many doctors usually avoided the reality of death. In contrast, she visited terminally ill patients and spoke to them. She conducted these discussions (interviews) together with the pastors of the clinic and medical students. She reported on her interviews in her book On Death and Dying. What the dying have to teach doctors, nurses, clergy, and their own families (1969). With this publication and an aggressive marketing it became world famous, especially its phase model (German: "Interviews with dying" 1971).

Her goal was to learn from the dying how to deal with them and what help they hope for. For this purpose, like other mortality researchers of her time, she interviewed 200 terminally ill people (since 1935, such recorded conversations had already been carried out in the Chicago clinic, where Kübler-Ross was employed). During the talks, Kübler-Ross spoke directly to those affected about their feelings and thoughts about death and dying. Doctors in her clinic in particular were upset about this approach. The interviewed patients, on the other hand, were grateful for this donation, according to Kübler-Ross. Kübler-Ross herself emphasizes in her book that the dying do not give up "their personal style, their usual behavior" even when they die. But that does not prevent them from "depicting phases that people have to go through when they receive ominous news".

Through workshops and lectures on dying and death, which she held around the globe, she gave doctors, nurses, social workers and pastoral workers in particular impulses for dealing with dying and grieving people. Her core message was that the helpers first had to clarify their own fears and life problems ("unfinished business") as much as possible and had to accept their own death before they could turn to the people at the end of their lives.

After 1974, the psychiatrist became a New Age healer who joined spiritual healers and was guided by the spirits Salem and Pedro. In 1977 she declared that death does not exist. In her autobiography Das Rad des Lebens (2002) she described this change in detail. Her claim that she could scientifically prove life after death sparked heated controversy. She justified her claims with physical encounters with the deceased, for example with her deceased, divorced husband and Jesus. In 1977 she founded a spiritual center, which was quickly destroyed by storms and fire. A second attempt to build a hospice for children with AIDS on a farm in Virginia based on the model of doctor Cicely Saunders also failed; in the fire on this farm, Kübler-Ross lost all records of their work.

She became a professor at the University of Virginia in 1985 . In 1995 she suffered a stroke, which was followed by two more and put her in a wheelchair. Kübler-Ross sums up at the end of her autobiography: “The hardest lesson is unconditional love. Death is not something to fear. It can be the most beautiful experience of your life. It all depends on how you lived. Death is just a transition from this life to another existence in which there is no longer any pain or fear. Everything can be endured with love. "

In the film documentary of her life titled Seeing death in the face ( Stefan Haupt , 2002) Elisabeth Kübler-Ross said: “Today I am sure that there is life after death . And that death, our physical death, is simply the death of the cocoon . Consciousness and soul live on on another level. Without any doubt."

The terminally ill researcher struggled with her fate, suffered from her loneliness and protested violently against her suffering. Strokes, paralysis, and great pain hit her, and she was alone. Her triplet sister Erika Faust-Kübler wonders about her sister in the documentary by Stefan Haupt Elisabeth Kübler-Ross - Looking death in the face : “She still wants to determine when she can go. I think she can't let go She's just not ready yet. And somehow it irritates me too. She wrote so much about death and dying, even glorified it. Now that her time has come, she says: 'I still have to do this and that.' The two triplets said that an esoteric taught their sister a lot and they thought that was hocus-pocus. She was on a dangerous trip: "Beth, stop the crazy stuff. Keep your feet on the ground. Tell what you know, but no more. "

Five stages of dying in their context

The core of her book On Death and Dying is a phase model with which she describes the experience and behavior of the dying. In the first chapter, Kübler-Ross deals in detail with the dying ( The Dying Patient ) and the presentation of five phases of dying with respective case studies. This is followed by chapters on communication, forms of dying, behavior towards death and dying as well as chapters on the family of the sick, interviews with the terminally ill and the psychological treatment of terminally ill patients. Then she dedicates a separate chapter to the subjects of humor and fear, faith and hope (Humor and Fear, Faith and Hope), which play a role in all phases. The English edition closes with an extensive bibliography in which specialist literature from their time on Die und Tod is compiled. Both the bibliography and the acknowledgment are missing in the German edition.

The dying process begins with the doctor explaining the fatal illness. The sick respond gradually to the news that they are terminally ill. Kübler-Ross defined five phases of the dying process . She originally understood these phases as a reaction to any kind of loss (e.g. job or freedom), from grief and suffering. No phases of physical death are described, but the mental processing of the farewell to life in people who consciously suffer massive deterioration in health or have been confronted with an infamous diagnosis and prognosis . These phases can sometimes also be observed in the relatives. These are unconscious strategies for coping with extremely difficult situations, which exist side by side and can last for different lengths of time. There is no set order and no exclusion of repeating individual phases after they have been mastered for the first time. Individual phases can be omitted entirely. In addition, according to Engelke, the phases can overlap and “one phase is more pronounced than the other; in some patients this phase predominates, in others that phase ”.

Not-wanting to believe (denial) and isolation (English denial )

The disease is first denied. Sick people claim, for example, that the X-ray image has been reversed or a medical misdiagnosis has been made. If the family does not want to deal with death, they cannot help at this stage. The consequence for the relatives means that they long for the death of the dying (“die as soon as possible”). Outsiders can help by offering trust and supporting the sick.

Anger (English Anger )

The sick feel envious of those who survive. Your thoughts revolve around the question: "Why me?" This leads to uncontrollable anger towards anyone who does not have the disease, such as B. Nurses , doctors and relatives. They can continue to earn their money, spend it on vacation and realize their plans. The fear of being forgotten also plagues the dying; they perceive their suffering as unimportant against the backdrop of the catastrophes on television. Help can be attentiveness, not to avoid the sick person and, if necessary, provoking their anger so that it can be discussed. It remains important that the supervisors should not take this anger personally, as otherwise it provokes counter anger, which leads to a spiral of dispute.

Negotiate (English bargaining )

This phase represents a brief fleeting phase in which childish behaviors emerge, such as those of an angry, then negotiating child who wants to negotiate a reward with domestic activities. Sick people hope through "cooperation" for reward, such as a longer life span and freedom from pain. Most of the time, the deal is made with God in top secret by dedicating their lives to the church or making their bodies available to anatomical teaching and science . In order to support the sick in this phase, it helps to give liberating recognition to their feelings of guilt, for example towards God or towards other people.

Depression and sorrow (English Depression and Grief )

The torpor, anger, and anger give way to two forms of despair and loss. The first form is reactive. It relates to a loss that has already occurred, for example the breast after an operation, the money for the hospital, the responsibility to the family. By combating these worries with, for example, a breast prosthesis or the necessary change in family care , the suffering can be helped. The second form is preparatory in nature and deals with an impending loss such as death or absence in the life of relatives. Here, too, intervention by the patient's environment can provide relief in their suffering, e.g. B. through reports from relatives that children continue to write good grades and play a lot, d. This means that they can continue their normal lives despite the absence of the sick. Too many visitors, however, disturb the mourning, which the sick must always be allowed to do. Without a subjective knowledge of fear and despair, the next phase is not in sight.

Acceptance (English Acceptance )

After envy and anger towards all healthy and living, the sick await death and prolong their sleep. The phase is free from previous feelings, the struggle is over, the pain is over and the terminally ill want to be left alone from the problems of the outside world. This is the most difficult phase for those around the dying, as they also have to experience rejection. Old people reach this phase of acceptance more easily. They look back on their lives and a meaning they have recognized for themselves (e.g. their own children). Difficulty in this process is the distinction between this phase and giving up early. Family members can best help by listening in silence, by showing that they will stick with them until death.

In all phases, the terminally ill express, directly or indirectly, their hope that they will not have to die. It would be a mistake to take hope away from the dying. It is up to the relatives, carers and doctors to keep hope alive. In addition, one can convey to the dying that they receive all the help and relief they need. In this way the companions would become friends.

Research on near-death experiences

Kübler-Ross also dealt with the phenomenon of near-death experiences . She first reported on her interviews in her book “ On Death and Dying. What the dying have to teach doctors, nurses, clergy, and their own families ”(German:“ Interviews with dying people ”, 1971).

criticism

The phase model is mostly adopted without its context in the book, without reflection and uncritically, both in specialist books on nursing and palliative medicine. The majority of death researchers reject the Kübler-Ross phase model and other models that describe dying with graduated behavior for scientific reasons.

Kübler-Ross himself and many others rate the book and model as the standard book of mortality research. For the first time she interviewed the dying, broke the taboo of death and gained and published new knowledge about the experience of the dying. Your statements are original and scientifically founded. But death research ( thanatology ) did not just begin with Kübler-Ross. Her knowledge of death and dying was not new. The method of interviewing the dying in order to improve the accompaniment of doctors, psychologists and pastors was already a tradition. Phase models for the dying and mourning process were discussed and published before her.

Since 1950 doctors, psychologists and pastors in the USA and Great Britain have been systematically researching the experience and behavior of the dying. The results have been published in specialist journals and monographs. Conversations with the dying and memory records of these conversations have been an integral part of Clinical Pastoral Training since 1935, also in the clinic in Chicago where Kübler-Ross was employed. Beatrix Cobb , John Hinton , Cicely Saunders , Margaretta K. Bowers , Barney G. Glaser , Anselm L. Strauss , Avery Weisman , Robert J. Kastenbaum , David Sudnow , Colin Murray Parkes , John Bowlby and others. a. interviewed the terminally ill and dying before 1967 and published their results. These authors had the same goal as Kübler-Ross: to improve the support and care of the dying through their research.

Kübler-Ross has stated that she wanted to use "all the material she could get" for her book. In the original edition it gave an extensive bibliography on dying and death, but did not refer to it in the text. The German translation is missing a bibliography and acknowledgments. There are no footnotes or references to sources here either. Kübler-Ross says he knew the relevant publications on dying and death and also some of the authors.

The book was heavily criticized for the phase model immediately after its publication: With the generalization and standardization of experience and behavior (deny, anger, negotiate, be depressed, agree), the individuality of the dying person and his uniqueness are disregarded. It was and is still criticized today: The interviews were neither documented nor professionally systematically evaluated. These are one-time, random interviews and not a progression study. The interviews were interpreted by a person without naming the criteria. The limits of the research method were neither observed nor stated. The interviews specified as typical for the individual phase do not justify the respective phase. The phased model is descriptive in nature, but has been widely and adopted as if it were prescriptive.

Kübler-Ross has claimed that the phase model “suddenly came to her, almost as if by divine inspiration”. On the other hand, there is evidence that she knew and adopted phase models by Beatrix Cobb, John Bowlby, Colin Murray Parkes, without giving their sources. Incidentally, she owes a great deal to C. Knight Aldrich and Carl A. Nighswonger, without mentioning her.

Her commitment to the phenomenon of near-death experiences earned her negative criticism, but above all her claims that life after death and reincarnation are "scientifically proven". At the end of her life she said, “I believe in the afterlife. But I don't want to come back. I am now learning a few more things that are needed for life, and then it’s good. I will dance with the galaxies. And I look forward". She is accused of playing down and glossing over dying and death. In her retreat center in Escondido , California ( Shanti Nilaya , Sanskrit for home of peace ), she held spiritualistic sessions and distanced herself from reality.

The psychiatrist Samuel Klagsbrun, himself a well-known death researcher, said that Kübler-Ross was actively destroying the work that she created and that, in his opinion, would continue long after her attempts to destroy it. She is destroying her own work by denying death.

Honors

Kübler-Ross has received many academic awards. For her achievements between 1974 and 1996, she was awarded 20 honorary doctorates from various universities and colleges. In addition, it has received over 70 national and international awards. In 1999, the news magazine TIME counted her among the “100 greatest scientists and thinkers” of the 20th century.

Cinematic and audio documentaries

Publications (selection)

Kübler-Ross wrote more than 20 books, these have appeared in around 35 languages.

literature

Biographies

further reading

  • Bundesarbeitsgemeinschaft Hospiz eV (Hrsg.): Help at the end of life. Hospice work and palliative care in Europe . The Hospiz Verlag, Wuppertal 2004, ISBN 3-9810020-0-8 .
  • Pauline W. Chen: Death is not intended . Herder, Freiburg 2007, ISBN 3-451-29580-6 .
  • Johann-Christoph Student (Ed.): The hospice book . With a foreword by Elisabeth Kübler-Ross. 4th enlarged edition. Lambertus, Freiburg im Breisgau 1999, ISBN 3-7841-1110-6 .
  • Ruth Davis Konigsberg: The Truth about Grief. The Myth of the Five Stages and the New Science of Loss. Simon & Schuster, New York 2011, ISBN 978-1-4391-4833-4

See also

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Hubert Steinke : Kübler (-Ross), Elisabeth. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland . November 22, 2007. Retrieved August 24, 2019 .
  2. ^ Dietrich Stolberg: Therapeutic pastoral care. The American Pastoral Movement. Presentation and criticism. With documentation. Munich 1970, pp. 18-59.
  3. ^ Elisabeth Kübler-Ross. In: Jessica Bendiner, Elmer Bendiner: Biographical dictionary of medicine . Facts on file, New York / Oxford 1990, ISBN 0-8160-1864-2 .
  4. ^ E. Kübler-Ross: The wheel of life: autobiography . Knaur, Munich 2002, p. 261-312 .
  5. ^ Mechthild Winkler-Jordan: Elisabeth Kübler-Ross. In: FemBio. Women's biography research (with references and citations). Retrieved August 24, 2019.
  6. ↑ Ernst Engelke: Signals into life. Encounters with the dying. Verlag J. Pfeiffer, Munich 1977, p. 18.
  7. ^ Günter Rolling: Elisabeth Kübler-Ross on near-death experiences. (Video on YouTube , 10:07 minutes) In: ARD broadcast “Querdenker”. 1981, accessed March 14, 2014 . Marianne Diehl: Are near-death experiences images from the afterlife? In: Wissenschaft.de . April 12, 2001, accessed March 16, 2014 .
  8. ↑ Ch. Student, A. Napiwotzky: Palliative Care . Thieme, Stuttgart 2011, p. 8-26 .
  9. ↑ C. Bausewein, S. Roller, R. Voltz (Ed.): Guide to Palliative Care . Urban & Fischer, Munich 2015, p. 60 f., 340 .
  10. ^ R. Schulz, D. Aderman: Clinical Research and the Stages of Dying . In: Omega (ed.): Omega . Vol. 5, No. 2 , 1974, p. 137-143 .
  11. ↑ Christoph Student: The dying phases: Information and advice for helpers. (pdf, 23 kB) May 23, 2007, accessed on August 24, 2019 .
  12. ↑ M. Stolberg: The history of palliative medicine. Medical care for the dying from 1500 until today . Mabuse Verlag, Frankfurt a. M. 2011, p. 233-250 .
  13. ^ E. Kübler-Ross: Interviews with the dying . Kreuz-Verlag, Stuttgart 1972, p. 27 .
  14. ↑ N. Samarel: The dying process . In: J. Wittkowski (Ed.): Die, Tod und Mrauer: Fundamentals, methods, fields of application . Kohlhammer, Stuttgart 2003, p. 132-151 .
  15. ↑ E. Engelke: The truth about dying. How we better deal with it . Rowohlt Taschenbuch Verlag, Reinbek bei Hamburg 2015, p. 63-68 .
  16. ^ RD Konigsberg: The Truth about Grief: The Myth of the Five Stages and the New Science of Loss . New York, New York 2011, pp. 96 .
  17. ^ R. Worth: Elisabeth Kübler-Ross - encountering death and dying . Chelsea House Publishers, Philadelphia 2005, pp. 91-98 .
  18. ^ RD Konigsberg: The Truth about Grief: The Myth of the Five Stages and the New Science of Loss . New York 2011, p. 83-103 .
  19. ↑ Wolfgang Ueding: Elisabeth Kübler-Ross - Seeing death in the face. In: Ultimo on wire. January 25, 2008, accessed on August 29, 2018 (Film criticism Learn to Die. Stefan Haupt visits an icon , Switzerland 2002).
  20. ↑ Jonathan Rosen: REWRITING THE END; Elisabeth Kubler-Ross. January 22, 1995. Retrieved November 9, 2019 .
  21. ^ Elisabeth Kübler-Ross Biography. The Elisabeth Kübler-Ross Foundation, accessed on August 24, 2019 .
  22. ^ Books, Chapters and Papers. The Elisabeth Kübler-Ross Foundation, accessed on August 24, 2019 .
personal data
SURNAME Kübler-Ross, Elisabeth
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Swiss-American medic
DATE OF BIRTH July 8, 1926
PLACE OF BIRTH Zurich
DATE OF DEATH August 24, 2004
Place of death Scottsdale , Arizona