ABSTRACT
I once conducted a social study on what happens to people when they develop a serious cancer for which a medical prospect of cure was unlikely. One of the things that I expected to find was a high level of social rejection—people in this situation might lose friends and partners for fear of “catching” the cancer. Nothing could be further from the truth. Out of a hundred people I interviewed, about eighty reported no change, particularly in their close friendships and family relations.
