Psychosocial Impact of Cancer
Diagnosis and treatment of malignant diseases affect in many ways the lives of patients, relatives and friends. In this chapter, we summarise the current knowledge concerning the psychosocial consequences of cancer.
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Abstract
Diagnosis and treatment of malignant diseases affect in many ways the lives of patients, relatives and friends. In this chapter, we summarise the current knowledge concerning the psychosocial consequences of cancer.
Contents 1 Psychological Impact............................................................................................................ 1.1 Psychological Reaction to the Cancer Diagnosis....................................................... 1.2 Denial........................................................................................................................... 1.3 Co-morbid Mental Health Conditions ........................................................................ 1.4 Potential Positive Impact ............................................................................................ 2 Social Impact ........................................................................................................................ 2.1 Socioeconomic Position .............................................................................................. 2.2 Social Relations ........................................................................................................... References...................................................................................................................................
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S. Singer (&) Epidemiology and Health Services Research, University Medical Centre Mainz, Obere Zahlbacher Straße 69, 55131, Mainz, Germany e-mail: [email protected]
U. Goerling (ed.), Psycho-Oncology, Recent Results in Cancer Research 197, DOI: 10.1007/978-3-642-40187-9_1, Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2014
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S. Singer
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Psychological Impact
1.1
Psychological Reaction to the Cancer Diagnosis
After a person hears he or she is diagnosed with cancer, the first reaction frequently is a sort of shock: ‘‘It can not be me; they must have mixed up the test results with another person’’. For many patients, receiving such a diagnosis is associated with the fear of intense pain, loss of control, stigmatisation and death (Holland et al. 1989). Getting such a diagnosis therefore feels like a nightmare. Complex processes of denial and subsequent realisation of the truth, often followed by denial again, are seen in those patients. After a while, depending on the psychosocial resources a patient has, the truth can be faced more fully by the patient. In this phase of coping with disease, people often start fighting and arguing—with their doctors, their relatives, their fate. It is as if they try to overcome the disease by fighting. When they realise this is not possible, it often results in intense feelings of hope and helplessness which can turn into depression. Not everybody is able to finally accept the malignant disease as part of his or her life. These phases of coping described above were conceptualised by Elisabeth Kübler-Ross after she had interviewed numerous dying patients (Kübler-Ross 2008). Her concept has been adapted by many author
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