Receiving a cancer diagnosis is often accompanied by a significant emotional shock. Both the patient and the family experience fear, anxiety and uncertainty about the future. According to 2020 data from The Oncologist, around 30 to 50% of cancer patients have some psychiatric comorbidity. Furthermore, the study shows that depression is two to four times more common in cancer patients than in the general population.
Also, a Chinese epidemiological study published by the WHO (World Health Organization) during the Covid-19 pandemic identified that, out of 6,213 cancer patients, 23% had depression, 17.7% had anxiety, 9.3% had symptoms and diagnosis of post-traumatic stress and 13.5% had ‘hostility’, a psychiatric disorder they called that and interpreted in Brazil as ‘aggressiveness disorder’.
According to the oncologist at IPC (Instituto Paulista de Cancerologia), Dr. Bruno Conte, it is very important to provide psychological support before and after the cancer diagnosis: “The first moment is actually more complicated emotionally, but even after the cure, to achieve Enjoying a good quality of life is a big challenge, as it is quite common for a person, after having faced all the treatment, to still be afraid of the disease relapsing”, he states.
The patient will still be concerned about family members and the fear of ‘leaving the people they love’. Due to this context, the person may not have such a good quality of life, due to psychiatric or psychological problems that even spread beyond the disease. Points such as good quality of sleep, good interpersonal relationships and professional success directly impact the quality of life of cancer patients and post-cancer patients.
“Lifestyle matters a lot for psychological health. Having a good support network and a specialist doctor helping with psychological treatment will certainly bring benefits. If this person has a supportive social cycle, a positive social cycle, it will greatly facilitate this patient’s journey and understanding of the disease, especially in the first moments, the most difficult ones”, comments Dr. Conte.
The effect of the treatment itself can trigger emotional problems and pain. Surgeries are often related to pain, some difficulty eating, difficulties in recovery and post-surgery. Furthermore, radiotherapy and chemotherapy, which have biological and toxic effects, also result in pain and patients’ fear of these methods. These specific points generate inflammation in the body, which also translates into emotional difficulties.
For the oncologist, it is the doctor’s responsibility to perceive and refer the patient for psychiatric treatment: “The oncologist needs to be able to identify that there really is a psychiatric disorder and treat it, he needs to recognize what would be an anguish, a natural fear due to the situation, when it is not natural, when those emotions are very exacerbated and it starts to affect relationships, it starts to affect day-to-day life”, he says.
The IPC is responsible for carrying out GAITA, a support group for patients undergoing antineoplastic treatment, one of the severe types of treatment for the disease. The group is made up of a psychologist, nurse, pharmacist and nutritionist. The objective is to accompany the patient in order to prevent emotional imbalance, provide information, resolve doubts and support the patient during treatment.
“Emotional disorders occur at all ages. Generally, people between 50 and 60 years old tend to deal better with diagnoses, but this is extremely variable. It is not uncommon to see younger patients coping better with the situation, just as it is common to see elderly people with severe depression. In any case, psychological support is necessary”, concludes the oncologist.
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