Psychological Stress And Breast Cancer: Coping Strategies For Madam A

Causes and Effects of Psychological Stress

Psychological stress can be defined that’s the way people feel particularly under extreme physical, mental, or emotional pressure (Sun et al., 2020). Even though several researchers have revealed that it is extremely normal to experience some level of stress psychologically as a part of life, individuals who experience severe levels of psychological stress or those individuals who experienced it over a long period of time in a repeated manner can tend to develop severe mental or physical health issues. Psychological stress can be caused by daily activities and responsibilities or routine events. On the other hand, as opined by several researchers, unusual events like illness of oneself or a family member or a traumatic event can be one of the major causes of psychological stress in an individual (Hameed, Sadiq & Din, 2018). Psychological distress stems from an inability to manage, monitor, or control the emotions of their daily lives. In the case of cancer, the patients go through daily physical and emotional changes in their regular life activities, which they are unable to cope with. Several researchers have also revealed that extreme psychological distress gives rise to poor clinical outcomes. Therefore it is the duty of the doctors, nurses as well as physicians to monitor the stress levels of the patient and help them to manage them effectively. This paper is focused on Madam A, who is a 30 year old housewife diagnosed with breast cancer. She is scheduled for her radiotherapy and is extremely worried and anxious about her treatment. She is experiencing sleepless nights for the past few days. This paper will discuss in detail the psychological needs and preparation for Madam A for the treatment.

The human body responds to emotional, mental as well as physical pressure by releasing the stress hormones like epinephrine and norepinephrine (Levi, 2016). These hormones increase the blood pressure, raise the blood sugar levels of the body as well as speed and up the heart rate. These drastic changes allow the individual to act with an enhanced trend and also speed up the process of escaping a perceived and potential threat. several research works have revealed that individuals who experience chronic, long term as well as intense stress can develop shows like urinary problems, digestive issues, weak immune systems as well as fertility issues. Individuals who experience chronic stress are also susceptible to viral infections like the common cold, flu, sleeping problems, headaches as well as anxiety, and depression. Several researchers have also talked about how psychological stress can lead to cancer. For instance, individuals who experience chronic stress can develop psychological behaviors and patterns like overeating, smoking as well as consuming alcohol that can increase the risk of the individual acquiring cancer (Jin Shin et al., 2016).

In this case of Madam A, a 30 year old housewife is diagnosed with breast cancer. This can be justified through the evidence provided by several research works who revealed that individuals who have cancer can find the social effects, physical effects as well as emotional effects of the disease extremely stressful (Antoni & Dhabhar, 2019). Therefore, it has been proved through research that in a lot of cases people do attempt to cope with their stress through risky behaviors like drinking alcohol or smoking. apart from that, they also become sedentary and become inclined towards poor quality of life after the treatment of cancer. Researchers have also revealed that in contrast to this, individuals who are able to successfully make use of efficient strategies of coping with the stress such as stress management techniques as well as relaxation, have revealed a comparatively low level of depression, anxiety as well as other stress related symptoms due to cancer as well as its treatment.

Psychological Stress and Cancer

Several researchers have revealed that anxiety is one of the main reactions to cancer (Niedzwiedz et al., 2019). Individuals experience anxiety while undergoing a screening test for cancer, waiting for the results, being diagnosed for cancer, undergoing the treatment for cancer, and also anticipating its recurrence. anxiety that is associated with the deadly disease of cancer has the potential of enhancing the feelings of pain that can interfere with the individual’s capability to sleep, thereby causing vomiting and nausea and also hampering the patient’s as well as their family's quality of life. Cancer patients generally go through abnormally high amounts of distress that become extremely incapacitating and include high levels of fear, worrying, as well as palpitation that can have a tremendous impact on the treatment of the patient. In this situation, if the patient refuses to get treated due to anxiety, it can be associated with low rates of survival and extreme pain due to cancer. Just as Madam A is feeling extremely stressed and is unable to sleep through the nights, the feelings of anxiety in her if estimated to increase or decrease at various periods of time throughout her diagnosis and treatment. She can become extremely anxious with the spread of cancer and this can even make her treatment become more severe and intense. Several researchers have revealed that patients are successfully able to deal with their cancer once they start learning about their issues in more detail and the effectiveness of the treatment that they are going to receive (Desine et al., 2020). However, in the case of Madam A, it can be estimated that her intense level of anxiety before the diagnosis of cancer has made her anxiety even worse before her treatment. therefore this is not only causing her to interfere with her treatment but is also hampering her quality of life.

Therefore, she is required to cope with her anxiety as well as depression in order to help her cope with her realization of the disease and her immense amount of pain due to her condition. Preparing her to readily accept the cancer treatment will only help her receive the treatment readily and improve her condition as soon as possible (Coyne et al., 2016). This will not only help her improve her own life but will also help her family members to improve their quality of life. Therefore some of the basic psychological needs that Madam A has is to manage her anxiety episodes through better communication and support from her family and relatives. Her first need is to know in detail about her condition so that she is able to learn about what type of breast cancer and also the treatment that she would be receiving. This will only help her gain knowledge and access on her own the positive aspects as well as the negative aspects of her stress. She needs to know let her condition is curable and for that, she requires huge levels of reassurance, encouragement, support, and validation from her immediate family members as well as her doctors and nurses (Koschorke et al., 2021). The second way is that she can be prepared for her radiotherapy is by allowing her to communicate with other kinds of patients who have successfully survived the radiotherapy sessions and also their cancer conditions. This will give her a lot of confidence to receive her treatment (Smith et al., 2017). She will learn that she will survive after the treatment and then there is a light at the end of the tunnel. Communicating and exchanging information between two patients can help one to motivate the other and this can create a community based intervention for her (Young, Camic & Tischler, 2016). She will feel that she is not alone in this journey and there are people like her facing the same pain and treatment that she is. This will give her the motivation to go through the treatment so that she can be cured.

Anxiety and Its Impact on Cancer Patients

Madam A Must also be taught to cope with her anxiety with the help of a doctor or professional counselor. The first way includes the relaxation techniques which can be used individually or with other types of treatment. The first relaxation technique includes deep breathing that will help a patient to calm down from chronic palpitation and speedy breathing (Norelli, Long & Krepps, 2020). Progressive muscle relaxation is also a technique that can be incorporated and it includes alternate tightening as well as relaxation of muscles. She must first begin with her toes or her head and slowly try to relax the muscles across her body (Norelli, Long & Krepps, 2020). The next technique that she must be thought is the guided imagery method which includes the utilization of words as well as sounds in order to help her imagine positive environments and settings so that she can develop constructive attitudes and feelings. Meditation is also a practice that will help her focus her attention on the present moment and also help her achieve a sense of well being in order to reduce her stress (Norelli, Long & Krepps, 2020). Yoga or other types of relaxing exercises can help her improve her posture and breathing techniques in order to promote holistic relaxation of the body and the mind.

Conclusion

Therefore, in conclusion, Madam A, Requires motivation, support, and encouragement from her family members as well as her doctors and nurses in order to help her prepare to receive the treatment. Apart from that, she must also consult doctors or professional counselors in order to teach her some relaxation techniques so that she can reduce her stress and anxiety. these can include techniques like deep breathing methods, guided imagery, yoga, relaxing exercises, progressive muscle relaxation as well as meditation. 

References

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