Tidings Triste Tappers!
(Today’s post is sponsored by the letter “T”)
Over the past 12 years, The Simpsons Tapped Out has taken us on an amazing journey. But now that journey is coming to an end.
Or put another way, the game has an imminent death that we just learned about 3 Thursday’s ago. So let’s take time over the coming weeks to process.
Swiss-American psychiatrist Dr. Elizabeth Kubler-Ross introduced the most commonly taught model for understanding the psychological reaction to imminent death in her 1969 book titled On Death and Dying. The book explored the experience of dying through interviews with terminally ill patients and outlined the “Five Stages of Death” (now commonly referred to as the “Five Stages of Grief”): denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance (DABDA).
So let’s continue with the NIH definition of Bargaining.
Bargaining typically manifests as patients seeking some measure of control over their illness. The negotiation could be verbalized or internal and could be medical, social, or religious. The patients’ proffered bargains could be rational, such as a commitment to adhere to treatment recommendations or accept help from their caregivers, or could represent more magical thinking, such as efforts to appease misattributed guilt they may feel is responsible for their diagnosis. While bargaining may mobilize more active participation from patients, health care providers and caregivers should take care not to mislead patients about their own power to fulfill the patients’ negotiations. Again, caregivers and providers do not need to repeatedly correct bargaining behavior that seems irrational but should recognize that participating too heartily in a patient’s bargains may distort their eventual understanding.
In terms of Tapped Out, I experienced bargaining after anger. I just felt there was something that could be done. If I paid a certain amount, could they keep the game going? But this stage lasted less than half an hour. I realized it was happening and texted Alissa to confirm she received the email as well.
How about you? Are you still experiencing bargaining that the game is coming to an end? If you have moved on past bargaining, what was the bargaining phase like for you and how long did your bargaining phase last? What kind of bargains were you making and with whom? Sound off in the comments below.
And be sure to come back next Thursday for your next therapy session.
Thursday October 17 – Bargaining
Thursday October 24 – Depression
Thursday October 31 – Acceptance