Aries, your explanation is appreciated. But the way you treat a naive formulaic reading of Kubler-Ross as if it were engraved on stone tablets by the Finger of G-d is not as helpful. In the forty years since she wrote Death and Dying we’ve found that not everyone experiences these stages. Certainly not in a strict order – which you have consistently gotten wrong exchanging Depression and Acceptance. And not in all cases. There is research which indicates that she may well have gotten it wrong and that the expectation that one is supposed to go through these stages in order and as prescribed may be a self-fulfilling prophecy. Her later attempts to extend it to all traumatic events is a case of making too much stew from one oyster.
I have experienced great personal loss which did not fit her prescription at all as has almost everyone who has lived long enough to see a number of tragedies.
It’s a rough guide, not a Law of Nature. I’d hate to see grieving people take it too seriously and believe they are “stuck” or abnormal because they don’t follow the steps as laid out.