What is Psycho-oncology?
Are there any factors that determine how a cancer patient may deal with the diagnosis?
Yes. There are 3 main factors that determine a patient's way of coping with cancer.
1. Society-derived factors
2. Patient-derived factors
3. Cancer-derived factors
1. Society-derived factors
This is HOW the society perceives Cancer. And how the people who are close to the patient, see cancer. For decades now, Cancer comes along with a social stigma of Cancer=Death. This has ofcourse changed now, but the way the society looks at cancer, directly affects the way the patient deals with it. For example, in some cultures, people believe that Cancer is contagious. And the society chooses to shun the patient, with the fear that they may acquire it too. You can only imagine how difficult that makes for the patient to deal with it.
- Psycho-oncology is a sub-field of Oncology that deals with the psychological and psychiatric aspects in the field of Oncology. This field came into existence around 20 years ago, and has been developing since then. It started off as a study of how to deal with cancer patients, and now has its roots very deep.
Are there any factors that determine how a cancer patient may deal with the diagnosis?
Yes. There are 3 main factors that determine a patient's way of coping with cancer.
1. Society-derived factors
2. Patient-derived factors
3. Cancer-derived factors
1. Society-derived factors
This is HOW the society perceives Cancer. And how the people who are close to the patient, see cancer. For decades now, Cancer comes along with a social stigma of Cancer=Death. This has ofcourse changed now, but the way the society looks at cancer, directly affects the way the patient deals with it. For example, in some cultures, people believe that Cancer is contagious. And the society chooses to shun the patient, with the fear that they may acquire it too. You can only imagine how difficult that makes for the patient to deal with it.
