The Five Stages of Grief meme is a humorous adaptation of the Kübler-Ross model, which was originally designed to describe the emotional journey of terminal illness. In internet culture, this psychological framework is repurposed to track the hyperbolic emotional reactions people have toward everyday frustrations, such as a favorite character dying in a TV show, a video game being delayed, or a sports team losing a game. Usually formatted as a vertical list or a five-panel comic, the meme juxtaposes the weight of the actual stages—Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression, and Acceptance—with trivial or relatable modern problems. This format allows creators to find community in shared struggles, proving that while the 'grief' might be small, the process is universal.