ABSTRACT
It goes without saying that melanoma patients have a great deal to cope with. This is true, of course, for all patients with a life-threatening diagnosis. Many aspects of a person, and of a person’s life, are threatened and disrupted by the diagnosis and treatment of a cancer such as melanoma (1). Research has found that different ways of coping with these threats and disruptions is associated with differences in one’s psychological adjustment and emotional well-being over time (2). It appears that some ways of coping are generally better than others in the sense that they are more conducive to a good quality of life (physically and emotionally) when dealing with a serious illness.
