Noted Swiss psychiatrist Dr. Elisabeth Kubler-Ross wrote the book “On Death and Dying” back in 1968. It’s been a model of dealing with grief ever since. The basis of Dr. Kubler-Ross’s philosophy is the five stages of grief: depression, anger, bargaining, denial, and finally acceptance. She theorized that most people journey through those five stages as they come to terms with their own processing of grief. On some level you can apply that approach of those five stages to many aspects of your life and relationships even your own mental health.   Consider that perhaps you are feeling depressed. Not just the ordinary blues but something that is running a lot deeper. The kind of feelings which make you apathetic towards everything whether that is your physical appearance, your job or even your marriage. This depression can easily lead to anger as you grow frustrated with feelings of inadequacy and helplessness. As your depression and anger build you could slip into denial thinking that “this will all blow over.” You can begin bargaining with yourself that if you accomplish certain tasks then you’ll be fine. Of course, all of this is really setting yourself up for potential failure. Acceptance comes when you finally decide to seek out professional psychiatric help.   Guess what? Those five stages might not stop there but continue throughout your therapy sessions. It’s absolutely conceivable that you’ll hit on all of those emotions through the course of your treatment. Understand that your therapist will be anticipating these different levels and will know just how to handle them. As you journey through your therapy you’ll be challenged to confront many issues and that’s all perfectly normal. Many people are amazed at what they’ve been carrying around for years. Once those feelings are released it’s like the weight of the world is lifted off your shoulders. And isn’t that what we all want?