Recounts personal experiences concerning art therapy as both a lymphoma patient and an artist. A few selections from two periods in the hospital illustrate physical and emotional pain. (JPS)

Notes that role of psychologist on palliative care unit is to be there for terminally ill, their friends, and their families, both during the dying and the bereavement and for the caregiver team. Focuses on work of decoding ordinary words which for many patients hide painful past. Stresses necessity to remain open to unexpected. (Author/NB)

Highlights dilemmas imposed by disclosure and nondisclosure of therapist's life-threatening illness to patients and colleagues. Reviews literature that illustrates spectrum of circumstances and opinions, contrasting survivable with more complex or likely nonsurvivable conditions. In case of therapist's life-threatening illness, calls consultation…

Presents interview with Dame Cicely Saunders, founder of international hospice care movement. Saunders describes her background and experiences that led her to form the hospice movement and discusses the need for pain control for terminally ill patients. Saunders also notes her opposition to euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide. (NB)

The relationship between medical illness and suicide seems to be multi-faceted. While medical illness is not the sole determinant of suicide, certain illnesses, such as HIV/AIDS and brain cancers, do appear to elevate the risk of suicide. Possible effective prevention efforts include education of primary care providers, and improved medication…