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Cancer; Support Group and
Relaxation
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Cancer is
common, all too common. It is estimated that one in
three people will eventually be diagnosed with cancer.
Few things in life can create more stress and anxiety
than a diagnosis of cancer. Women who have been told
they have breast cancer describe the time after they
were diagnosed "as the most stressful days of my life."
If you have had a biopsy or surgery for cancer, or have
started radiation or chemotherapy, you will already have
experienced quite a range of emotions and stresses. It
is common to feel betrayed by your own body, or angry at
your situation, depressed, confused, and even tearful.
You may feel very alone in your experience.
People diagnosed with cancer and their families face
many challenges that may leave them feeling overwhelmed,
afraid, and alone. It can be difficult to cope with
these challenges or to talk to even the most supportive
family members and friends.
Scientific community believes that support groups can
enhance the quality of life for people with cancer by
providing information and support to overcome the
feelings of aloneness and helplessness that result from
diagnosis of cancer. Research has shown that people with
cancer are better able to deal with their disease when
supported by others in similar situations and reducing
stress improves quality of life for cancer patients.
Support groups can help people affected by cancer feel
less alone and can improve their ability to deal with
the uncertainties and challenges that cancer brings.
Support groups give people who are affected by similar
diseases an opportunity to meet and discuss ways to cope
with the illness.
Support groups present information, provide comfort,
teach coping skills, help reduce anxiety, and provide a
place for people to share common concerns and emotional
support. They allow powerful emotions to be shared.
Researchers at Ohio State University in 2003 reported
that they studied a group of women who had just had
surgery for breast cancer, collecting answers about
their feelings of emotional stress, their support system,
their diet and exercise, and their smoking habits. Their
work was called Stress and Immunity Breast Cancer
Project. The women were also tested for how well their
immune system was working.
The project has involved women who were diagnosed and
surgically treated for breast cancer. As expected, the
researchers found that their stress levels were high and
it was harmful to the women's health. Results showed
that those with the highest level of cancer-specific
stress also showed lower immune responses. This may
leave the women vulnerable to a variety of illnesses and
possibly even the cancer itself.
The women were divided into two groups, one of which
attended regular small group meetings on topics related
to their health and treatments, and the other group did
not attend any meeting. At the end of four months, all
of the women were interviewed on the same questions they
had answered at the start of the study.
A variety of interventions were used with the women who
attended small group meetings to help them reduce stress
and adopt healthy habits. The group met once a week. In
some of the sessions, women simply talked about what
they were going through and offered support to one
another. They were also taught strategies like
progressive muscle relaxation that would help them cope
actively with their stress.
They were given assertiveness training so they could
better deal with the health care system and feel more
comfortable asking for help from their family and those
around them.
One of the most popular topics was diet. Patients
learned how to reduce fat from their diet, to increase
their consumption of fruits and fiber, and how to make
healthier food choices.
In addition, the women were given help to begin an
exercise program, quit smoking and comply with their
medication regimens.
The women who had attended small groups showed
improvement by reporting lower levels of stress and
anxiety, improved feelings of support, and a reduction
in smoking and their resistance to disease was higher.
The women in the second group, who did not attend small
groups, did not show this kind of improvement. This
study suggests that people will benefit from attending a
support group, because it can strengthen you in body,
mind, and emotions, while you are in treatment.
Many different kinds of support groups are available and
they vary in their structure and activities. Some say
that support groups help in reducing tension, anxiety,
fatigue, and confusion. An influential study by Dr.
David Spiegel in 1989 reported that group therapy helped
women with breast cancer to cope and live longer. The
demand for support groups from people with cancer has
grown since then.
Support groups include a variety of different approaches
some of which focus on behavioral aspects and symptoms
(e.g. pain, fatigue) and some on the expression of
emotions. Most of these support programs are structured
and short-term and include elements such as delivery of
information, emotional and social support, stress
management strategies based on the cognitive behavioral
approach and the teaching of relaxation techniques.
Some studies have provided evidence-based knowledge that
structured group interventions for cancer patients
improve psychological wellbeing, reduce anxiety and
depression, and improve quality of life, coping and
mental adjustment.
Stress is common among cancer patients. Stressors
related to the disease may include the uncertainty of
one's future, the unpredictability of disease,
disability, and financial difficulties.
Common stress signals can include disturbed sleep,
fatigue, body aches, pain, anxiety, irritability,
tension, and headaches.
Stress reduction support groups focus on relaxation
techniques such as progressive muscle relaxation and
guided imagery, providing people with tools to cope with
their anxieties.
Some say that relaxation groups ease cancer pain and
speed recovery from cancer surgery. Some say that
relaxation groups minimize nausea and vomiting
associated with chemotherapy.
On average, the cancer patients participating in the
relaxation groups showed small but significant decreases
in their psychological distress. The more distressed
patients were before entering the intervention, the more
they were improved at the six-month follow up, the
researchers found.
Guided imagery involving relaxation and positive
suggestion can help to lower stress, improve coping
skills, enhance an overall sense of emotional well-being,
and help with making lifestyle changes. When used along
with prescribed medications, guided imagery can
contribute to controlling pain in cancer patients.
In a South Korean study published in 2005, 30 patients
with breast cancer received training in Progressive
Muscle Relaxation and Guided Imagery. An additional 30
patients in the study received no training. Both groups
then began a 6-cycle chemotherapy regimen. Researchers
found that the patients trained in progressive muscle
relaxation and guided imagery experienced less
chemotherapy-related nausea and vomiting than the
patients who had no training. In addition, the trained
patients had much lower levels of anxiety and depression
than the untrained patients. Six months after treatment
ended, the trained group still experienced a higher
quality of life than the untrained group.
Mehtap Tamer Psychologist
www.yasamatolyesi.biz
mehtap.tamer@yasamatolyesi.biz |
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