IX Summary and Analysis

Chapter IX addresses the issues related to the families of terminally ill patients, including the forced changes and adaptations of having a member no longer functional. The author notes men sometimes revert to children when their wives become ill. She feels it can be good for a patient when the family goes on an outing or continues some activity that indicates their lives will go on. Non-communication about impending death is often associated with the family's guilty feelings, but honest communication about the situation can ease all parties involved. Kubler-Ross describes a young girl who gave up her own life to spend every minute with her dying mother. Her mother, unable to speak, was relieved when the daughter agreed to take a part-time job and not spend so much time in the hospital room.

A farmer named Mr. Y was allowed...