What can it hurt?
With numerous fundraisers each year and millions of dollars given to help find the cure- it is no secret that Cancer is a huge deal for Americans. Although the death rates are declining there are still millions of people affected by contracting cancer or by losing a loved one. I have been affected by the loss of a loved one due to cancer and one of my friends was recently diagnosed with stomach cancer, I am even predisposed to skin cancer. I’m sure that everyone somewhere has some kind of connection to cancer which makes this topic so interesting because we are all connected by this deadly disease. I know that there are so many people out there doing their best to find a medical cure to the disease and I’ve yet to meet someone who didn’t want to find a cure. There is so much research going into curing the disease and they have produced things like chemotherapy and even radiation but both of those cause many unpleasant side effects that it is hard for cancer patients to deal with their daily lives. So, what do we do when treating cancer causes life altering side effects? We turn to health psychologists and their research on helping the patients deal with the outcomes or treatment and even accepting that they have cancer.
Psychologists have been trying to find ways to help cancer patients ,first , accept being diagnosed with cancer and they then help them deal with the side effects of cancer and any medical treatment they are going through and help give them the tools to deal with their day-to-day lives. Psychologists can use a variety or treatments such as relaxation training and imagery (Health Psychology , 2010). Both are used to help cancer patients work through the stress and physical side effects of chemotherapy or radiation therapy. They help provide an overall well-being for the cancer patient.
One study looked into the effects of both relaxation training and imagery for children going through chemotherapy. It found that “imagery with suggestions is a well established treatment” (McQuald, & Nassau, 1999).They used techniques such as video games and pictures to help distract children from their chemotherapy and the result was “less postchemotherapy nausea and vomiting” (McQuald, & Nassau, 1999).Because this article was reviewing several other articles about the effects of psychological treatments for children to help deal with chemotherapy side effects there are no clear measurements. Every study that the authors reviewed had different measurements and they are not all indicated in this article. Another study experiences similar “positive outcomes” (Andersen, 1992) when looking at the effectiveness of psychological interventions. The study suggests that facing the disease and learning more about it and having behavior strategies can “provide realistic appraisals for current or impending stresses of the disease or treatment” (Andersen, 1992). Basically, it can help the patient accept and cope with the disease and the treatment of the disease. The main measurement used in this particular study was measuring of effectiveness of the immune system and patient surveys.
In one final study that discussed the tie between stress and health found that there is “accumulating evidence exist[ing] for the direct effect of health behaviors and immunity” (Anderson, Kiecolt-Glaser, & Glaser, 1994) Suggesting that behaviors have a very large impact on physical health. The study narrows down to cancer patients and their psychological health when dealing with stress. “The contribution of stress to the alteration of health behaviors is made more complex by the direct effect that cancer treatments may have on some behaviors” (Anderson, Kiecolt-Glaser, & Glaser, 1994) This article concluded that psychological health affects health behaviors which affect the physical well-being in cancer patients. It also suggests that with the help of psychotherapy there can be an improvement in mental health resulting in an improvement in physical health. Which is what the previous article found- through psychological intervention children had less unpleasant physical side effects of chemotherapy (McQuald, & Nassau, 1999).
All of these articles suggest that psychological intervention with cancer patients can be beneficial. Each also made a statement that there is just not enough research on the topic of psychology and cancer and there should be more money invested because it can help the patients live a much healthier and happier life. What can it hurt by measuring the effectiveness of psychological treatment on cancer patients or any other chronic disease? Why can’t there be money spent in studying the benefits of psychological treatments? The results from just these three studies are conclusive that there are signs of benefits of psychological intervention and it is worth looking into that idea with different, more accepting, lenses. The public should be made more aware of the fact that there are psychological treatments that can help patients accept that they have been diagnosed with cancer and dealing with physical side effects of the disease and the treatment. I think that if the public and even professionals were more aware, then more people would be more open to this treatment and the evidence for psychological intervention would build up.
Health psychologists know that there is a link between psychology and physical health and I think that they need to find more outlets to advertise that there are therapies that may held any patient deal with any disease through acceptance and behavior strategies. I also think it is important for further research to be conducted in this area to find more specific benefits of these treatments so that more people will participate. The world, as a whole, should be more open to any suggestions that can help chronically ill patients handle their disease. After everything these people have to go through I, personally, think they deserve to live happier lives…after all, what can it hurt?
This is a youtube.com video about the importance of emotional health during cancer.
Links to PDFs of the articles used:
Andersen, B. (1992). Psychological interventions for cancer patients to enhance the quality of life. Journal of Consult Clinical Psychology, 60(4), 552-568.
Anderson, B, Kiecolt-Glaser, J, & Glaser, R. (1994). A biobehavioral model of cancer stress and disease course. Am Psychoogyl, 49(5), 389-404.
Health psychology. (2010, 1007). Belmont: Wadsworth.
McQuald, E, & Nassau, J. (1999). Empirically supported treatments of disease-related symptoms in pediactric psychology : asthma, diabetes and cancer. Jounral of Pediatric Psychology, 24(4), 305-328.
