The Feeling of Life Finiteness and Coping in the Face of a Cancer Diagnosis

Gastrointestinal cancer remains a leading cause of death. The announcement of such a diagnosis generates an existential crisis with a feeling of life finiteness. Psychosocial reactions accompany this bad news. A particular concept defined as transitoriness is everpresent. The person struggles to continue living. He or she adopts coping strategies to adjust to the difficulties imposed by the confrontation with the feeling of life finiteness. Health professionals must be sensitized to the specificities of transitoriness and the factors influencing the use of effective coping strategies. This would allow them to detect vulnerable patients and then to target therapeutic interventions to decrease the risk of distress and its impact on the patient’s quality of life.