The plan is for me to write a series of blogs about cancer. You will read this small paragraph every time you read one of these blogs because it is an explanation and a disclaimer. First of all, why should I do this and what qualifies me to do so? The answer to the second question is that I am a cancer immunologist with a PhD from the University of Pennsylvania and have 30-years experience in not only research, but also in the experiences of cancer patients. I have published numerous articles and a book about immunity to cancer and have two other books about my experiences with research and cancer patients as well as a fictional account of the final cure for the disease. However, none of this experience allows me to give advice or otherwise tell people what to do if they have cancer. I can be viewed as a participant/observer who will be relaying current and past observations about this world called “cancer”, which many people do not understand. That’s the answer to the first question, which is why I should do this. The first step in overcoming anything is to understand it first. With that being said, here they are:
Number 2 Emotional Aspects of Cancer Diagnosis and Treatment
It would be very difficult to accurately describe the nature of the emotions of a person who has just been given a diagnosis of cancer. The reason for this is that the human range of emotions is vast and every individual uses a different combination of those emotions to cope with such news. However, several common emotional states do affect everyone in this situation. Initially there is disbelief/denial because usually the symptoms, as mentioned above, didn’t seem to warrant such a serious diagnosis such as cancer. Once the diagnosis is accepted fear takes over and my spark other emotions such as sadness and depression. Much of this sadness has to do with family and friends because once the patient realizes that when they are informed about the diagnosis, they too will become sad. Since fear is such a strong emotion it tends to amplify other less intense feelings. In this case the feelings of disbelief and denial are turned into form of suspicion that is centered on the truthfulness of the diagnosis. Often people in this situation wonder if they have been told the complete truth about their diagnosis. These emotions tend to feed off of each other until there is the full realization by the patient, that they indeed do have cancer. The next common stage is involved with “self”. Questions such as “Why me?”, What did I do to deserve this?”, and “I always have bad luck?”. This stage is associated with withdraw because of the egocentric nature of the response. The isolation is due to the fact that they now know that they are different from other people, who probably don’t understand what they are going through.
Sometimes the source of the emotional stress is cancer specific. For instance it was found that many lung cancer patients experienced guilt and shame. This was because they were diagnosed with disease that from society’s point of view was self-induced. Therefore during the treatment, many patients experienced social anguish due to the “stigma” of their diagnosis. Another cancer-specific emotional stress condition is found in breast cancer patients. Many of these patients tend to exhibit repressive behavior, which is related to the denial stage mentioned above, but affect the ability of the patient to psychologically cooperate fully with recommended treatments. Breast cancer is one several cancers where the emotional state of the patient before, during, and after both diagnosis and treatment has been extensively studied. Many breast cancer patients must make major psychological adjustments in response to the fact that they have the disease. Some of these adjustments associated with general distress were specific for the malignant form, but not the benign form of breast cancer. There are also sources of emotional distress related to body image after breast reconstruction surgery. In addition, a common form of stress associated with trauma victims, post-traumatic stress syndrome (PTSS), is a frequent emotional state experienced by breast cancer patients. One of the reasons this type of analysis of cancer patient stress is important is that stress not only affects the mind, but it also affects the body.
Cancer patients experience the most pervasive emotional states during the treatment phase. The reasons for this are related to not only the physical discomfort associated with many of these treatments, but also the uncertainty associated with their effectiveness. One of the most significant and harmful emotional states a cancer patient has to deal with is the combination of anxiety and depression during treatment. Depression alone is a major contributor to premature death among these patients. It not only increases mortality, but also can slow-down recovery. Even though depression affects a significant percentage of patients during treatment anxiety during treatment tends to affect the quality of the personal lives due to the focus on family members. In many cases the increase in both anxiety and depression levels was directly related to increases in pain associated with both the cancer and its treatment. Anxiety-driven behaviors include lack of social functioning, difficulty breathing, sleep disturbances, and loss of appetite. Depression on the other hand included the symptoms of anxiety, but also manifested itself physically with symptoms such as nausea, vomiting, pain, and constipation. Again these emotional states tend to not only interfere with recovery, but also the ability of the patient to properly inform the physician of changes in their physical status as a result of treatment. From the information provided it is apparent that these emotional states cancer patients experience are critically important to the outcome of their treatment. An exploration of physical affects of the emotions experienced during this period is warranted. However, since the evidence concerning the link between the emotional state of the patient and the effect that it has on treatment and recovery is so strong, it has been recommended that an assessment of the patient’s ability to mentally adjust to treatments be done at the same time the treatment assessment is being done.
No comments:
Post a Comment