One Fish, Two Fish, Blowfish, Blue Fish

As a medical student I was well and truly “Kübler-Rossed,” becoming a follower of the theory of five stages of grief outlined in the 1969 book On Death and Dying. It was only some time later that I realised we were at the receiving end of an evangelical zeitgeist wherein conviction seemed to over-rule calmer reflection. Instead of being viewed as an important practical and reflective addition to our ways of considering reactions to serious illness and death, disciples of Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, in their enthusiasm, often allowed the concept to assume the characteristics of dogma. Indeed in 1985 Kübler-Ross expressed regret for having referred to them as stages, …