![]() 3 Breathing exercises, music, or art can to help calm someone if they are in distress. A strengths-based approach is one that focuses on the personal strengths of the patient to rebuild their self-esteem and confidence during this process. It’s important for healthcare workers to be aware of the short- and long-term effects a cancer diagnosis can have on a person’s emotional, mental, and physical wellbeing. ![]() Healthcare providers can help by providing patients and caregivers with the tools they need to restore their functioning as much as possible and facilitate adjustment to their new circumstances. She experiences intense anxiety around undergoing treatments and fears her mortality, even though she has a treatable cancer.Įven after treatment is completed, patients with cancer and their loved ones may have to adjust to a “new normal,” or a new way of life to accommodate the changes caused by treatment. Physically, her chest tightens and her shoulders slouch forward, similar to how she presented when being scolded by her parents as a child. Now, her diagnosis is bringing up many of those childhood fears and vulnerabilities. Her parents were not emotionally equipped to soothe young Linda or themselves, and were often anxious, angry, and made Linda feel as though she were defective and weak. As a child, she was often sick and in the hospital with various types of infections and colds. Take, for example, Linda*, a woman in her mid-50s diagnosed with breast cancer, has a history of trauma and neglect. Cognitive impairments may be caused by chemotherapy (also known as “chemo brain”), the location of the cancer, or metastasis to the brain or spinal cord. A cancer diagnosis and treatment can often cause physical changes, including pain, discomfort, and overall weakness and fatigue. In the long-term, the loss of autonomy, independence, or cognitive functioning can have profound and lasting effects on cancer patients and their loved ones. If fertility and intimacy are affected, additional issues related to parenthood, self-worth, and life trajectory can complicate the treatment process. Cancers that affect the reproductive organs can similarly cause disruptions in how a person identifies with his or her gender and self-perception. ![]() Cancer treatments that require surgery or the removal of a body part can increase body image disturbances and result in long-term consequences. In the early stages, many people will experience relationship changes and conflicts, dependency issues, work or school disruptions, and an altered sense of self and body image. Factors such as location of the cancer, the value or importance of the cancer site to the patient, and how much the diagnosis affects their physical and cognitive functioning will impact how the person perceives and experiences this new change. This experience may look different for each individual. It may take weeks or months for the newly diagnosed patient to fully integrate their cancer diagnosis into their sense of self, and this transition period can be a difficult time for them and their loved ones. Knowing about the ways in which trauma affects us can help providers and loved ones deliver better care to those undergoing cancer treatments.įor some, receiving the news of a cancer diagnosis can be a shock and result in feeling stress, shame, and anger. 1Ī cancer diagnosis and treatment can constitute a trauma for many people. ![]() Trauma is defined as an emotional response to any difficult life event, such as exposure to threatened or actual death, and can result in shock and denial in the short-term and emotional distress, depression, anger, distorted thought patterns, relationship conflict, and physical symptoms in the long-term. ![]()
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