Four stages of denial | Cornered Cat

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Four stages of denial

December 16, 2012

Can’t figure out where I picked this up, but it’s brilliant. If you know the source for these stages, please let me know.

The Four Stages of Denial:

That never happens.
That will never happen to me.
It won’t be that bad.
There was nothing I could have done.

Denial kills, because most people who stumble over an unpleasant truth just pick themselves up and carry on as if nothing has happened.

3 Responses to Four stages of denial

larryarnold says:

December 16, 2012 at 2:16 pm

There’s also, “The hair’s standing up on the back of my neck, but it’s only paranoia.”

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Andrew Rothman says:

January 2, 2013 at 11:34 am

The earliest reference I could find was December 2001:

By SUSAN PAYNTER, SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER COLUMNIST
Updated 10:00 pm, Thursday, December 6, 2001

There are four stages of denial in emergency awareness, Holdeman says.

First: “It won’t happen. Earthquakes don’t happen. Neither does terrorism.” (That one worked better before the Nisqually quake and Sept. 11).

Second: “If it does happen, it won’t happen to me.” (That one was embraced by an elderly gent named Harry Truman until he washed away in Mount St. Helens sludge).

Third: “If it does happen, it won’t be so bad.” That rationale is favored by those who didn’t lift a finger to prepare but still came through the Nisqually quake unscathed.

And fourth: “If it happens, we’ll all be dead, anyhow.”

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- Kathy Jackson says:
  
  January 5, 2013 at 10:51 am
  
  Thanks, Andrew. That helps!
  
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