For cancer patients, not only do they have to suffer from the disease itself, but they may also be tortured during treatment, all of which not only decreases their somatic functions, but also reduces their quality of life and social interaction, which is the impact of cancer on the human side of patients and the research of psychosocial oncology.
Before the 1990s, in our country, once a cancer diagnosis was made, it was a death sentence, forcing patients to experience isolation, stigmatization and low self-esteem. Because cancer was associated with death, doctors and families would not tell the patients themselves about the cancer diagnosis, and these beliefs continue to this day.
What exactly is cancer?
The physical problems associated with cancer have a powerful impact on the patient’s psyche. For example, the foul-smelling discharge caused by certain tumors causes patients to feel shame and humiliation, and patients may also experience pain, loss of sexual function, and loss of their former charm. Today, although the survival rate of certain types of cancer has improved greatly, people are still afraid of the word “cancer” because it is still a difficult-to-treat disease, not only the disease itself brings pain, but also patients may suffer a lot during treatment. This is the impact of cancer on the human side of the patient, and is the subject of psychosocial oncology research.
The initial diagnosis of cancer does not include the full meaning of cancer. When patients wake up from their early reactions and realize that they are a cancer survivor, they begin to re-regulate every aspect of their lives on a daily basis.
First, as cancer patients, they experience an “existential crisis” in the first three months after diagnosis – will I die? Can I be cured? …… While most patients struggle to return to normalcy, others are unable to extricate themselves from this intense emotional pain and are forced to accept the reality that they will not be able to resume their old lives.
Secondly, even when the disease is in remission, patients feel that they live in the shadow of cancer every day, which seriously affects their daily life.
Third, the fear of recurrence or actually having a recurrence further complicates the psychosocial process for each patient, when the patient develops a supportive relationship with medical staff and other patients after gaining key information and knowledge about the disease and its treatment, thus engaging and understanding the recurrence process. Even if the patient does not relapse, this critical knowledge can alleviate the suffering caused once a relapse occurs.
Finally, if treatment fails, the disease becomes advanced and there is a potential threat to abandon treatment, the greatest challenge for patients is to adapt to the situation. Some patients are able to adapt to their terminal phase, but for others, death is something they will never be able to accept.
Why do cancer patients need psychosexual treatment?
With the continuous development of cancer management and treatment techniques, about 1/2 to 1/3 of newly diagnosed cancer patients are now expected to survive for more than 5 years. As the number of cancer patients who are cured or who have survived for many years with their disease continues to increase, they are facing the complex process of readjusting to life after treatment. Even cancer patients who have successfully completed treatment still have many special needs.
It is currently believed that there are at least two reasons why oncology clinics need psychotherapeutic services: one is the high rate of psychiatric symptoms (especially anxiety and depression) in patients in all medical clinics, with 47% of cancer patients statistically presenting with a diagnostic psychiatric disorder; the other is that patients need to deal with the stressful reactions to a serious illness, and no one would be prepared for a life-threatening illness. prepared for the complex treatment that accompanies this disease, the fear that occurs, the sense of social isolation, the loss of ability and the impact on family and friends, etc. The impact on the patient’s entire life (especially emotionally) is enormous. Although some of the problems do not reach the level of a diagnosis of mental illness, some kind of supportive intervention, especially for emotional support, is still needed.
Author: Lili Tang, Department of Rehabilitation, Beijing Cancer Hospital, Peking University School of Clinical Oncology Source: Clinical Oncology Forum Date: 2011-01-28
In order to better study the somatic, medicine initially required that people be divided into psychological and somatic parts to explain disease separately, which led physicians to focus their attention only on the manifestations of disease in the somatic parts. Unfortunately, the individual’s personality, which is closely linked to the somatic body, was often overlooked in this process and was thought to have little impact on treatment outcomes.
In recent years, with the evolution of “medicine”, those research methods previously simplified by science and medicine have returned, beginning to reunite the separate mind and body, calling for the recovery of the individuality in each body as a whole, and for the reconsideration of the “person” as The human being is once again considered as a whole person.
The influence of psychological and social factors on illness has now received attention and has become important in understanding the onset of illness and the physiological process of illness.
Psychosocial factors influence the patient’s conception of the disease, which in turn affects his or her behavioral response to diagnosis and treatment and the subsequent course of care. When a patient is noncompliant with medical treatment, it may be his or her psychosocial factors that need to be addressed promptly: is it anxiety? Is it family members’ lack of cooperation? Is it a financial problem? Or is it simply the patient’s fear of clinical examination?
These are not questions that can be answered by biomedicine.
Medicine has recognized the holistic nature of the human being, and disease has begun to be redefined to include not only the physical quadrant, but also the mental, emotional, and spiritual quadrants. Modern medicine has matured to a high level of understanding of the biological functions of the human body, and it is able to both divide the body into very small parts and to consider all aspects of the human body in an integrated manner to intervene in somatic illnesses and to help patients restore health and a sense of total well-being.
In clinical practice, physicians should not be satisfied with knowing only the biological side of the patient, but should also focus on the patient’s quality of life and should know how to systematically ask questions about quality of life, which questions to ask, and how much to incorporate the patient’s opinion in the process of formulating treatment decisions.
Knowledge in the field of psychosocial oncology is important for oncologists, cancer patients and families. There is limited ability to truly understand the full impact that cancer has on patients and their families. To what extent has existing psychosocial oncology knowledge been applied to clinical interventions or services for oncology patients? It is important to acknowledge that psychotherapy, particularly interventions for cancer and cancer treatment-induced symptoms, is only in its infancy in a field that holds great promise. As we move into the new century of cancer treatment, these issues related to the humanity of the cancer patient will certainly guide us to develop a psychosocial oncology that integrates the body, personality, and family to treat and treat the cancer patient as a whole person.