Cancer and its Psychological Effects on the Family
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12/10/2010 03:05:00
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Here I would like to share my thoughts on the subject of the psychological effects of cancer with PAYAM readers. The importance of knowledge, information, and awareness in succeeding in any life endeavor, particularly when it comes to our health, is well known.
Being diagnosed with cancer is a frightening event, and for many people is accompanied with complete shock. Family members are often left asking the question, “What do we do now?” With improved treatment strategies, prevention techniques, and early detection tests, a diagnosis of cancer is not as grim as it once was. In fact, cancer has become more of a chronic illness than a fatal disease. With this change comes a focus on quality of life concerns. The patients, the families, and the communities can play a key role in improving the quality of life for individuals (including partners and families) who have been diagnosed with cancer.
Effects of Cancer on the Family
No one believes that they or someone in their family will be diagnosed with cancer. However, cancer affects millions of families every year. One of the most challenging aspects of cancer is managing the disruption that occurs in everyday life. When someone is diagnosed with cancer, regardless of the type, the diagnosis can evoke a great deal of worry and fear throughout the family. The uncertainty regarding the type of cancer, prognosis, and treatment options can be overwhelming for patients and family members. In fact, partners and family members often exhibit more distress than the cancer patient. This distress may be a result of losing control, feeling hopeless, financial difficulties, and anticipatory loss that are often associated with a cancer diagnosis. While cancer can have a substantial impact on physical health, there are also varying degrees of psychological and social implications that result from being diagnosed and treated for cancer.
How can the problem affect a relationship?
Some problems related to cancer can be specific to the period of life (early adulthood, middle adulthood, late adulthood) that cancer occurs. For instance, a forty-year old mother of two small children with ovarian cancer could have a number of different challenges than a seventy-year old man with prostate cancer. In addition, some families will thrive in the face of adversity while other relationships deteriorate. Many families do not know how to communicate about illness and often develop maladaptive patterns that can be detrimental to the recovery process and quality of life. However, families who effectively communicate report becoming closer with their loved ones.
In early adulthood, a cancer diagnosis can come as a shock and often involves parents of young or teenage children. Facing cancer while balancing the life demands of raising children, working, and maintaining a marriage can be extremely challenging. Depending on the developmental level, many children are very confused when their parent is diagnosed with cancer. Children will often ask questions that may be difficult to answer and family members are worried that they are going to lose their mother, father, or partner. This threatened loss for the parent could also change the parent-child dynamic and cause additional role changes.
In middle adulthood, individuals are usually employed and may find it difficult to balance work demands with managing illness. In addition, the social support from the children and other family members may be scarce due to other demands. Many couples share fears, worries, and depressive symptoms when a partner is diagnosed with cancer. This can be especially difficult when a partner is one’s primary support system.
In late adulthood, a cancer diagnosis may sometimes even be expected, however this does not change the distress that cancer can have on the family. When cancer occurs in late adulthood, many of the social supports that were present in previous periods of life may be missing. In addition, the adult children of the cancer patient are often faced with difficult decisions associated with treatment and care. Being faced with one's own mortality can be a challenging adjustment for the patient, family members and friends.
What challenges face the individual or loved one?
Cancer patients and their family members may experience some of the following effects: depression, anxiety, anger or irritability, frustration with circumstances, fear of recurrence, anticipatory grief, role changes within family, sexual dysfunction, decreased self esteem, communication difficulties, relationship stress, loss of sleep decreased appetite, loss of income, and financial reserves.
How do you know when to seek help?
Despite the shock of the initial diagnosis of cancer, many families are capable of adjusting very well without professional help. However, one should seek help if one experience significant distress in the individual with cancer, in couple relationship, having trouble with communicating about the illness, having trouble with problem solving or decision making during the process of treatment or notice symptoms of depression.
Through numerous studies, science is confirming that each one of us has an important role to play in our well being. I will discuss this and the influences of the Persian culture in viewing and dealing with cancer in my next article.
Dr. Khazrai is a licensed marriage & family therapist Individual, Couple and Family psychotherapy practicing in Newport Beach.
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