Abstract

Religious faith and spirituality have a long relationship with the existential crisis, particularly experienced by patients with a terminal disease. In contrast to negative religious coping, positive coping often has proved to be more beneficial and commonly accepted as it represents a secure relationship with spirituality and God and results in improved quality of life. In this study, six patients were interviewed twice, in four to six months, to analyze their religious and spiritual journey and the coping mechanism after being diagnosed with terminal-stage cancers. Four of the six patients demonstrated positive coping perpetuating their previously held religious belief, occasionally combined with initial short phases of doubts and anger. One patient, who was a self-declared agnostic beforehand, reported finding peace and tranquility after submitting to religion and spirituality. However, one patient reported negative religious coping through her constant anger toward God and manifested reduced quality of life, death depression, and suicide ideation.