Jurnal Psikologi Malaysia 33 (2)(2019): 37-48 ISSN-2289-8174 37 Psychological Effects and Coping Strategies after Major Surgery in Adults Divaasini, D. 1 Zhooriyati, S. M. 2 Department of Psychology, Faculty of Social Sciences and Liberal Arts, UCSI University Kuala Lumpur 2 Corresponding e-mail: [zhooriyati@ucsiuniversity.edu.my] This qualitative phenomenological was conducted to explore the psychological experiences and coping strategies utilized by surgical patients who developed psychological effects after major surgery. To meet the objectives of this study, five participants aged between 45 to 63 years old were recruited though purposive and snowball sampling across Klang Valley, Malaysia. The participants who underwent various major surgeries (Hemicolectomy, Craniotomy, Mastectomy, total knee replacement, and brain aneurysm repair) were interviewed using semi-structured questions on different days and places. Thematic Analysis was used to analyze the data gathered through the interviews with participants. This research found that individuals who undergo major surgeries display strong dependency on their families, anxiety about hospital and illness, negative emotional experiences, insecurity and isolation towards society as well as dissatisfaction due to lifestyle changes. To overcome the psychological effects faced after major surgery, this study found that adults utilize adaptive coping strategies such as seeking for social and professional help, practicing self- management, spirituality and optimism as well as giving and receiving support from loved ones. Through the findings of this research, awareness regarding familial role towards post- surgery recovery can be increased and steps such as introducing psychological screening for surgical patients could be implemented in Malaysia. Keywords: psychological effects, coping strategies, major surgery, adults Surgery has been one of the most performed medical procedures worldwide with an estimate of 266 to 359 million operations performed in 2012 and an increase of 38 percent recorded over the past eight years (Weiser, Haynes, Molina, Lipsitz, Esquivel, Uribe-Leitz, & Gawandeb, 2016). However, the issue on psychological effects that arise after surgery has not been researched until late 1980s. One of the first researches that focused on the relationship between psychological effects and surgery was a study done on the natural course of anxiety before and after surgery using the State– Trait Anxiety Inventory by Johnston (1980) where the findings suggested that high levels of anxiety were experienced by patients prior to their admission to the hospital as well as the period before and after their surgery. Psychological effects in the context of this research is psychological experiences of adults who exhibit depression, anxiety and stress symptoms after their major surgery, with regards to the emotional, physical and social challenges faced. Previous literature on psychological effects in an adult surgery discuss several factors that psychological experiences. Manner of operation is one of the factors that affect the severity of psychological