2. ROLES IN PSYCHO-ONCOLOGY
Psycho-oncology deal with these two principles:
a) The psychological reactions of patients with cancer, the effects to families or carers at all stages of disease and stresses on staff.
b) The psychological, social and behavioural factors that contribute to cancer cause and survival.
The disease and treatment can lead to various outcomes of quality of life, be it physical, psychological, social, vocational, sexual and survival. The mediating factors including personal (sociodemographic, personality and coping style, belief), medical (compliance, rehabilitations, doctor-patient relationship, treatment environment), social (family/friend, community resources, religious community) and life events (concurrent illness,
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Certain lifestyle may be associated with certain psychological issues that may lead to cancer or other disease. For example the relationship between depression and smoking has emerged and cessation research in psycho-oncology has resulted in models for planning rational interventions for smoking cessation.
Cancer therapies create a range of psychiatric and neuropsychiatric disorders. Many cancer treatments to certain extent may affect the brain function. As new therapies being tested, it will be important that patient-reported quality of life be included as an outcome measure in more clinical trials in oncology. The treatment seems efficacious but also carries with it a high price in quality of life. Patients have to make decisions about therapies offered and quality-of-life information is important to help them to choose.
Cancer survivors are also subject to have psychological challenges. Side effects of therapies may lead to various reactions from a normal psychological reaction, anxiety till to the extreme posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The existence of psycho-oncology support has helped these survivors to talk about certain issues with due respects (sexual problems, self-image
Cella, D.F. (1995). Measuring quality of life in palliative care. Semin Oncol 22(2 Suppl 3), 73-81.
Being diagnosed with a chronic illness is a life-altering event. During this time, life is not only difficult for the patient, but also for their loved ones. Families must learn to cope together and to work out the best options for the patient and the rest of the family. Although it may not be fair at times, things may need to be centered on or around the patient no matter what the circumstance. (Abbott, 2003) Sacrifices may have to be made during difficult times. Many factors are involved when dealing with chronic illnesses. Coping with chronic illnesses alter many different emotions for the patients and the loved ones. Many changes occur that are very different and difficult to get used to. (Abbott, 2003) It is not easy for someone to sympathize with you when they haven’t been in the situation themselves. No matter how many books they read or people they talk to, they cannot come close to understanding.
Fox, B. H. (I 989). Depressive symptoms and risk of cancer. Journal of the American Medical
Recently nine studies were done with cancer patients to show improvements on sleep quality, mood, stress, cancer-related distress, cancer related symptoms, and the patients over-all quality of life. One
Chronic illness issues can include managing their illness, the cost of taking care of the illness, etc. Many people who suffer from a chronic illness suffer a lot trying to manage their illness on a daily basis. According to a website called NCOA.org, “About 80% of older adults have one chronic disease. 68.4% of Medicare beneficiaries have two or more chronic diseases and 36.4% have four or more. Chronic diseases can affect a person’s ability to perform important activities, restricting their engagement in life and their enjoyment of family and friends”
There are hundreds of different kinds of psychiatric disorders listed in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th ed. (DSM-IV). One of them is called Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Based on the research, post-traumatic disorder usually occurs following the experience or witnessing of life-threatening events such as military combat, natural disasters, terrorist incidents, serious accidents, or violent personal assaults like rape (Harvard Women’s Health Watch, 2005). The purpose of this paper is to discuss the risk factors, pathophysiology, clinical manifestation, diagnostic criteria and tests, treatment, prognosis and future research and approaches to treat this psychiatric illness of post-traumatic stress disorder.
There are so many types of mental illnesses that affect people every day. When some people think of mental illnesses they think of the ones that would cause people to have physical symptoms as well, but that’s untrue, there are many more that you would never know anyone has if you were to see them on the street. As defined by the 2008 encyclopedia “a mental illness is any disease of the mind or brain that seriously affects a person’s ability or behavior. Symptoms of a mental illness may include extreme moods, such as excessive sadness or anxiety, or a decreased ability to think clearly or remember well.” A mentally ill person has severe symptoms that damage the person’s ability to function in everyday activities and situations. Every nation and every economic level can be affected by a mental illness. In the United States alone about 3% of the population has severe mental illness and to add to that number about 40% of people will experience a type of mental illness at least once in their lives. Some cases of mental illnesses can go away on their own, but some cases are so severe that they require professional treatment. There is so much more available to help people recover from their symptoms than in the past.
Psychiatry is a medical field that deals with the diagnoses, prevention, and treatment of mental disorders. The FDA is constantly approving drugs for psychiatrists to use that are supposed to help with in their practice. For example, Michael Levin-Epstein, who wrote the article “A New Way to Deliver Psychiatric Meds: Drugs for ADHD and Major Depression Now Can Be Delivered with Skin Patches,” shows how pharmacotherapy is continually being advanced by new ideas and approaches. However, Psychiatric drugs are not always the answer. Prescriptions are not a good remedy when it comes to the overcoming of a mental illnesses, because there is not enough information regarding the effects of the drugs, pharmaceutical companies are driven by profits,
Wittenberg, E., Saada, A., & Prosser, L. (2013). How illness affects family members: A qualitative interview survey. The Patient: Patient-Centered Outcomes Research, 6(4), 257-268. doi:10.1007/s40271-013-0030-3
The uncertain nature of chronic illness takes many forms, but all are long-term and cannot be cured. The nature of chronic illness raises hesitation. It can disturb anyone, irrespective of demographics or traditions. It fluctuates lives and generates various inquiries for the patient. Chronic illness few clear features involve: long-lasting; can be managed but not cured; impacts quality of life; and contribute to stress. Chronic illnesses can be enigmatic. They often take considerable time to identify, they are imperceptible and often carry a stigma because there is little sympathetic or social support. Many patients receive inconsistent diagnoses at first and treatments deviate on an individual level. Nevertheless, some circumstances require
There are many ways to categorize illness and disease; one of the most common is chronic illness. Many chronic illnesses have been related to altered health maintenance hypertension and cardiovascular diseases are associated with diet and stress, deficient in exercise, tobacco use, and obesity (Craven 2009). Some researchers define the chronic illness as diseases which have long duration and generally slow development (WHO 2013); it usually takes 6 month or longer than 6 month, and often for the person's life. It has a sluggish onset and eras of reduction for vanishing the symptoms and exacerbation for reappear the symptoms. Some of chronic illness can be directly life-threatening. Others remain over time and need intensive management, such as diabetes, so chronic illness affects physical, emotional, logical, occupational, social, or spiritual functioning. Chronic diseases, such as heart disease, stroke, cancer, chronic respiratory diseases and diabetes, all of these diseases are the cause of mortality in the world, representing 63% of all deaths. So a chronic illness can be stressful and may change the way a person l...
Every individual’s perspective of well-being varies according to how they define the term health. For a person living with a terminal disease, their definition of health may be completely different than a person who is living without any illnesses. Therefore, the term health is contextual and exits on a continuum and does not have an absolute definition. The World Health Organization describes health as “a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity”. Taking this into consideration when individualizing care with each client allows the nurse to take into a full understanding of how the client views health and
...e the cancer and look for the positives in the prognosis and treatment find encouragement for the future. There are various models and theories such as health belief model that are used to explain ones belief on risks and associated risks of a chronic illness and then there are theories such as Crisis theory when dealing with shock when diagnosed with a chronic illness and gate control theory when looking at pain and the psychological issues around dealing with pain. However even with various theories and models trying to explain crisis, pain and compliance to treatment the outcome and understanding and ultimately the way an individual deals with a chronic illness such a breast cancer falls very much down to self-efficacy and the belief the individual holds towards the illness itself the attitude and perception in the outcome of the illness, treatment and beyond.
As the client attempts to cope with the circumstance, various aspects of his life may be affected. In some way, the coping response of an individual to a health-related concern may be related to his Quality of Life
Mental health refers to the state of individuals psychologically, emotionally and socially. Mental health affects a person’s emotions, feelings, thoughts, and sections when exposed to different situations. Furthermore, mental health is responsible for a person’s reaction to stress and other social conditions. Generally, mental health affects how a person relates to others and their ability to understand and interact with them. Therefore, problems that affect a person’s mental health affect the abilities to socialize, their feelings, moods, reaction to situations. The person experiencing mental health problem may portray different behaviors when confronted with different issues. Mental health issues have several