The diagnostic of cancer, once you become aware of its existence (under the direct implications in the modification of the state of health of the patient) and assumed (under the identification and acceptance of the therapeutic protocol) becomes for the patient the representation of a new lifestyle. It is a “permanent crisis” that the patient must deal with, according to which he changes his behavior and attitude towards the general aspects of life and towards the persons that he comes into contact. Cancer becomes thus a determinant of actions, moods, perceptions of the subject. Speaking from the psychological point of view, according to the personality structure, the person suffering from cancer can develop affections such as: anxiety disorders, panic attack, depressions. As a matter of fact, considering all the signification and information connected with the morbid sense, the cancer diagnostic is perceived as a stressful factor that leads to major modifications in the life of the subject.

In such cases, the examination of a specialist working in this sector is very important in order to establish the type of intervention/ psychological support and the appropriate psychoterapeutical protocol.

In order to reduce the gravity of manifestations and the consequences of modifying the aspects of life of the individual, a therapeutic program is set that shall be told to the patient (adapted to the particularities of each case), and in more severe cases it is recommended the association of psychotherapy with a medicinal treatment.

Generally, in terms of the psychological intervention we start from the identification of the mechanisms of adaptation of the individual, the identification and restatement of the personal priorities, the reset of the patient in the relational sphere where he positioned himself before finding the diagnostic and the reconsideration of all the aspects that were important before the diagnostic and that came second. We can easily pass from the personal plan (that tends to become quite obsessive) to the family, social, professional plan (during more stages and sessions), so that the patient can come back to a normal lifestyle without negating his crisis (that sums up to the fear of death) but bringing it with himself, in a normalization that would have seemed impossible at the beginning. Man, in his general functionality (his psychophysiology) has a great potential of adaptation and mechanisms to overcome the crisis situations that he is not aware of in many situations. The psychological intervention (be it through individual sessions, be it through group therapies) can be the trigger he needs to discover his force, potential, optimism and to recapture his appetite for life, that he seems to have lost after finding out the diagnostic.

Author: Cimpu Aura-Cristina

This entry was posted on 11 February 2014 at 12:04 pm. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.