Cancer has become a major health hazard to our people. It is not only a disease of the body, but also a disease in which psychological factors have a great influence.
Studies have found that psychological factors play an “activator” role in the occurrence, development and metastasis of cancer. When a person is in a negative emotional state such as loneliness, sadness and despair for a long time, it will lead to neuroendocrine disorder and weaken the immune surveillance function, which may cause cancer cells to proliferate suddenly. On the contrary, if cancer patients can hold an optimistic and positive attitude, they can often achieve good results in treatment.
Therefore, for cancer patients, it is necessary to understand the nature of cancer again and treat cancer from the “heart”, with the help of “psychosomatic medicine”, which integrates psychological understanding, methods and means, to stop the rampage of cancer cells and protect their health. Generally speaking, after getting cancer, there is a period of psychological depression, and the main psychological barriers are as follows
1. Pessimism
Since the discovery of early stage breast cancer, a female patient is often depressed, she thinks she cannot socialize and live normally as she did before the disease, even her favorite hobby of dancing is not of any interest to her now, and she seldom goes to the park for morning exercise, gymnastics and dancing as she did in the past.
Such patients are often in a lonely and isolated state, with no way to vent their bad emotions and no way to get care and advice from others, which will lead to the serious consequence of aggravating their disease. Therefore, cancer patients must not be isolated from the world after they get sick. They should realize that many tumor diseases can be cured, and at the same time, they should actively take part in social interactions and infect positive mentality, especially they should pay attention to establish new social circles, enhance the contact with cancer patients, and use the collective strength to build up their spiritual pillars. This is sociable therapy.
2.Surrenderism
A 50-year-old male patient, since he was found to have early-stage lung cancer, has given up on himself, believing that the tumor cannot be treated and he will die sooner or later, and holding the mentality of “breaking the jar”, thinking that it is important to have fun in time. Patients like this no longer have the belief of survival in their minds, and various treatment methods cannot work with their own strength, so that patients often die when they should not, and those who should have a longer time to survive leave the world early.
For this situation, we can recommend a spiritual psychotherapy that has been promoted in the United States, France, Canada and other countries – life meaning therapy. First of all, life should have a goal, not only for healthy people, but also for tumor patients, who should live happily for one day, but not just “live in time”. Secondly, to have a correct concept of life and death, old age, sickness and death is a natural law, since it is unavoidable, look at it with a relaxed heart, and relax your mood.
Finally, we should make our life rich and colorful, and actively participate in some activities that are good for the mind and body, such as listening to music, watching TV, hiking and making friends, etc. On the one hand, we can improve our immunity and enhance our ability to resist and kill cancer cells, on the other hand, we can enjoy a good life and appreciate our value to the society. This is life meaning therapy.
3.Individualism
A young patient who had just graduated from university was found to have early stage liver cancer. Fearing that he was too young to accept the blow, his family discussed with the doctor to conceal his condition from him, saying it was a common hepatitis. Now the family faces a dilemma, not daring to let him go to an oncology specialist for fear that he will know the truth of the matter. Not telling the patient’s true condition was once thought to be protective of the patient, but the consequence of doing so is that the patient does not actively cooperate with the treatment and it is difficult to achieve the best results.
For such patients, confidence therapy can be used, that is, everyone has an extraordinary potential within the organism, and once this potential is stimulated, it will lead to unexpected gains, and even miracles, and confidence can stimulate this potential. American medical doctors once gave patients a miracle prescription of three major beliefs for cancer recovery: believing that cancer is a disease and not necessarily fatal; believing that anti-cancer treatment is an ally to support the body’s defense; and that the root of anti-cancer should be based on confidence.
The above categories of patients are only a few common psychological intervention processes in complex cases. In some contemporary medical works, it has been suggested that the degree, difficulty and depth of psychological intervention vary according to different patients’ personality, growth environment and cultural level, but undoubtedly starting from psychological problems is an important experience.
In the treatment and recovery of cancer, there is a phenomenon worth pointing out in particular, that is, there are two types of people whose peace of mind and strong perseverance after suffering from malignant tumors lead them to recover well in the fight against cancer; one type is people from rural areas, with low education level, superstitious or blind tendency, commonly found in rural elderly people, or people who are confused and rough, after they have found out cancer, some of them have surgery, some even After they found out cancer, some of them don’t even have surgery, some don’t even use radiotherapy, and live very well, and even the primary lesions have disappeared with pure Chinese medicine treatment.
We explain that tumor itself is a kind of psychosomatic related disease. Under the circumstances that patients are unaware of it and have no corresponding fear or threat, they receive special care and treatment from doctors in big cities. Under such circumstances, cancer, which is a chronic disease, can easily stabilize and even heal itself.
Another type of people is those who are very rational and persistent. Once they have completely figured it out and understood it, they will fight against cancer without any hesitation and often heal better than ordinary people. They have a clear understanding of the value of life and a high standard of pursuit, and they have a determination not to give up until they reach their goal.
Once the treatment is determined, they will deliver all their conditions to the medical staff, while they concentrate on their original work and give their best to reflect the value of their life. As the treatment proceeded, together with his own in-depth understanding, he became confident in his illness and his health, becoming more and more energetic, radiant and free from illness, and full of hope for the present and his future life.
Therefore, people who are rational, persistent and believe in themselves are often the ones who can overcome cancer. On the other hand, those patients who are always anxious and worried about whether their cancer has metastasized and recurred; those who are anxious about their disease, have a higher recurrence rate and tendency to metastasize than other cancer patients with relatively stable emotions.
To treat cancer from the heart, while using various means and measures to relieve patients’ physical pain, we also provide psychological guidance and intervention to alleviate their pain and help them carry out comprehensive regimen. Then, we believe that even patients with psychological disorders will be convinced by the medical staff and comply with the treatment to achieve better clinical results.