Distress In Lung Cancer Patients

Ever since my mother was diagnosed with lung cancer in when I was in middle school, I’ve developed an interest in medicine and the treatment of diseases. Then, last summer, my Chinese teacher was diagnosed with the same type of lung cancer. What I found peculiar is that both of these important women in my life were non-smokers and Chinese; so perhaps this type of cancer is race-associated. A recent publication from the National Cancer Institute seems to back my hypothesis, suggesting that Asian women possessed a unique chromosome associated with lung cancer. Coming from a cancer survivor’s family, I hope to continue to research this correlation and, someday, develop a quick and accurate diagnostic kit or device for cancer identification or implement lung cancer risk screening for Asian American women, similar to the breast cancer risk screenings for women. As a future biomedical engineer,

The human body is designed so that each part is dependent on the other for one or the other reason. There is a delicate balance to the distribution of functions and the way in which each system defenses itself against any unmentionable disease or ailment.

Cancer has one of the biggest effects on the patients mental health but also the patients loved ones and friends. It is one of the hardest things to get a grip on when the doctor tells someone that they have cancer and a fifty-fifty chance of making it. "The disease can bring many changes-in what people do and how they look, in how they feel and what they value" (Dakota 4). It makes people look at the world and their lives in a different way, valuing now what they took for granted and seeing the bigger picture in every scenario. It is something that no one can actually brace, even after the doctor tells them. Through it all though, the person must remain strong and optimistic because the cancer can affect the person's moods and in return affect the outcome of the person and the chances of their making it

Radl, Donna M. (2015) conducted the literature research that up to 43% of cancer patients were appearing emotional problems after the cancer diagnoses and treatments.

The author’s meta-analysis article is concerned with people who are depressed and are suffering from cancer which is spreading to other parts of their body. In Australia, where researchers conducted their analysis, various forms of group therapies were administered to assist cancer patients with depression, anxiety, and other mental health problems. Regardless of the group therapy given or the terminal status of their disease, those who were able-bodied enough to experience therapy saw minimal to no results, and if there were favorable results, the positive results declined over time. The only exception to the outcomes of these studies happened in 1982, men were given individual therapy and after three months of treatment the patients’ sense

They go through enormous physiological and psychological stressors once they diagnosed and throughout their treatment program. There is an immediate need of rehabilitation program for cancer patients to meet their physiological and psychological need. Those who try to manage their stress with risky behaviors such as smoking and drinking or they live sedentary lives can lead to poor quality of life during their diagnosis and their treatment (Harding, M. 2012). On the other hand people with the good coping mechanism, they deal their stressors with effective relaxation technique and have less psychological and physiological stress related to cancer and its treatment. Evidence from experimental studies shows that psychological stress increases the tumor to grow and advance quickly. As a nurse, we should provide emotional and social support that can help patient to cope effectively with their psychological stressors (Andrykowski et al., 2008). This will help them reduce anxiety and also assist them in adopting good coping behavior for example participation in yoga and meditation. Other approaches of good coping behaviors are exercise, participating in counseling and attending cancer education programs (NCI, 2015). Also, people who used to exercise before their cancer diagnosis they cannot return to their same level of physical activity due to fatigue and pain. As

When asked about their husbands’ reactions to their diagnosis, their answers were more or less the same. Overall, the women reported the men to have shown moderate levels of distress and a substantial minority of the men had distress levels that were clinically elevated. From previous knowledge, men with prostate cancer who have strong masculine gender scripts

Background: Cancer is one among the life threatening diseases in present days it has biological, psychological and sociological impact on individual’s life. People living with this deadly disease have numerous psychological abnormalities like stress, depression and anxiety. The present study aimed to investigate the levels of anxiety and depression among cancer and non cancer patients. Methods: 80 patients were randomly selected among them 40 were cancer patients and 40 were non cancer patients. The Sinha’s Anxiety scale and Depression scale constructed by Karim & Tiwari was used to measure the anxiety and Depression among patients. For statistical analysis independent sample t-Test was applied. Findings: The results show significant differences between the mean scores of cancer and non cancer patients in respect to anxiety and depression. Conclusion: On the basis of our results we may concluded that cancer patients have higher levels of anxiety and depression than non cancerous patients.

Distress is an unpleasant emotional experience of a psychological, social and/or spiritual nature that might interfere with the ability to cope effectively with cancer, its physical symptoms and the treatment that occurs, before, during and/or after the diagnosis (NCCN, 2003). In the Psychosocial aspect of cancer patients and their diagnosis, the distress thermometer is a tool that can help both the patients and staff in beginning a conversation with each other about difficulty going on before or after a cancer diagnosis. People who are at a higher risk of heightened distress, are people with subordinate cancer diagnosis, in reoccurring cancer patients, in younger patients, and in married people.

This is a key factor to take into consideration with dealing with stress because humans viewpoints are different. Cognitive appraisal consists of two types: a primary appraisal and secondary appraisal. Primary appraisal deals with a person understanding if the stress that is caused upon them is either a threat or not. The secondary appraisal deals with what a person does after. A person will figure out what they will about the stress and will realize how harmful the stress is. The next part of the model deals with the way a person copes with a stressful situation. The way a person copes with the situation is a direct result of what they decide from both the appraisals. Some ideas of coping will involve a person leaving a stressful environment or finding a way to ignore the emotions felt. This is an example of a meaning-based

The Lazarus’ transactional model of stress includes Primary Appraisal, Secondary Appraisal, and Coping effort. Primary Appraisal involves analyzing the importance of a stressor or dangerous incident which consists of stages such as dangerous, threat of harm, threat of loss, challenge to face, and benign (Pg.61). The Secondary Appraisal considers the controllability of one’s stressor and his/her resources to meet the challenge (Pg.61). For example, according to authors Kottler and Chen an individual who is wealthy views the loss of one hundred dollars as an insignificant event, while an underprivileged person sees losing one hundred dollars as a tragedy. Coping effort utilizes approaches to act as a go-between for primary and secondary appraisals.

Today, many psychologists feel that psychological therapy can give cancer patients’ a longer life. The first to take this stance was Psychiatrist David Spiegel M.D., of Stanford University School of Medicine, in a 1989 study Spiegel gathered patients once a week to discuss there feelings about the cancer and here they received support from other cancer sufferers. “When Spiegel followed up a decade later, he discovered that patients who had participated in the sessions had survived an average of 18 months longer than those in the control group” (Clay,2000). It is felt that if you can tap into a patients mind and help them deal with the cancer by dealing in the mental aspect of it that it will be

This essay demonstrates my understanding of the psychological theories and concepts which were discussed in lectures as I have applied this knowledge to the case example. I have employed two psychological topics such as the Humanistic perspective of personality and Stress and Coping theory.

This essay discusses coping, a complex process exercised by people to suppress, change, or eliminate stress or threat. This essay also discusses copers, that is, people who exhibit certain personality characteristics, known as distress resistant personality patterns, which can significantly influence whether they stay healthy or become ill. Also covered are coping strategies, -strategies people draw upon to solve life’s stressors, some

Coping strategies refer to the specific efforts, both behavioral and psychological, that people employ to master, tolerate, reduce or minimize stressful events. There are two general coping strategies which have been distinguished. Problem-focused strategies are efforts to do something active to alleviate stressful circumstances, where as emotion-focused coping strategies involve efforts to regulate the emotional consequences of stressful or potentially stressful events. Typically, people use both problem-focused and emotion-focused coping in their stressful episodes, which suggests that both types of coping are useful for most stressful events (Folkman & Lazarus, 1980).