What are the psychological characteristics of cancer patients?

1. Shock and fear period: it is more common in patients who suddenly learn the news that they have cancer, at this time, the patient reacts violently, showing panic, panic, dizziness, fainting, and even stupor; The most common psychological reaction of patients who become aware of the news that they have cancer is fear.

2. Denial and suspicion period: When the patient calms down from the violent emotions, he often uses the denial mechanism to deal with the tension and pain caused by the cancer diagnosis. For this reason, doubts begin to arise about the correct diagnosis of the physician.

Patients seek medical attention everywhere, hoping to find a doctor who denies a cancer diagnosis, hoping that a miracle will happen.

3. Anger and curse period: When the patient feels that his cancer diagnosis can no longer be changed, his emotions will become agitated, and his upset and angry emotions will sometimes cause aggressive behavior. At the same time, feelings of sadness and frustration arise spontaneously, feelings of hopelessness, often thinking of imminent death, and even suicidal thoughts and suicidal behavior.

At this stage, the patient often has tasteless food and restless sleep.

4. Accept an adaptation period: Regardless of whether the patient is willing or not, accepting and adapting to the fact of cancer is the ultimate choice, but most patients are difficult to recover to the pre-illness state of mind, and often enter chronic depression and pain.

Methods: Psycho-behavioral intervention methods.

Don't imagine the end result of the disease and never make any big decisions. Take things as they come; Strategically defied, tactically valued; Make a practical plan, actively cooperate with the doctor's arrangement, and adhere to the course of medication.

Telling the patient the truth, preparing the patient psychologically, and correcting the patient's misconception about cancer.

Emotional suppression in cancer patients: good at identifying whether it is real denial or emotional suppression, and providing timely psychological guidance on emotional expression and catharsis to those individuals with severe emotional suppression.

Fear and Depression: Fear: Cognitive**, relaxation training, and coping skills; Depression: Positive imagery, improved social support. Severe depression may be treated with medications**.

Pain: Hypnosis or other imaginary techniques to reduce the level of pain. Anxiolytic drugs can also reduce pain and allow early use of medications to control pain.

Tumors are a "threat".

According to Lazarus's theory in 1991, when a person is threatened, two important steps are usually taken, the first is to make a basic evaluation, at which point the basic question may be "Is the tumor benign or malignant, and can it be cured?" Oh my God, if it's malignant? What to do.

Patients need to judge how severe it is and how harmful it is to themselves. After that, the patient needs to go for a second assessment, where the basic question is: "What should I do at this level, what can I do?"

At this point, the patient may see "having a tumor" as a scary thing, or they may see it as an opportunity to challenge themselves. Of course, in most cases, patients will feel a huge psychological shock and a overwhelming threat.

For example, when some patients see the results of a laboratory test or learn that they have a tumor, they are stunned, and their thoughts are confused, their whole body is numb, and even they faint, this shock is called "diagnostic shock", and many patients recall the situation with a common feeling, which is short-lived, usually lasting only a few hours or days.

The nature of the "threat".

"Feeling threatened" means that there may be a danger to life, or it can be a "false alarm" - the tumor is benign and will not be life-threatening, so the sense of threat and the sense of control are closely related. As psychologist Gaganiga puts it, "People or animals are very likely to enter a state of stress when they are unable to control their environment, or when they think they cannot control it." In other words, "thinking you can't control" is just as threatening as "really not being able to control".

So, when you ask the aforementioned questions, the patient will experience the stress of nervous emotions.

Anxiety

Anxiety makes people feel nervous, uncomfortable, worried, worried, and vulnerable, which is the most common feeling experienced by cancer patients. In essence, it is the psychological self-protection of the patient, allowing himself to enter a state of combat readiness. At the same time, in order to reduce the unpleasant and uncomfortable emotions, cancer patients will use various psychological defense mechanisms to alleviate the anxiety caused by tumors.

Psychological defense mechanisms are any method used to avoid, deny, or eliminate those factors that cause anxiety or threat, which are generally unconscious, and everyone uses psychological defense mechanisms when needed.

When a patient learns the news of a cancer diagnosis, there will be significant psychological changes, and the psychological response will be roughly divided into four stages.

Hidden 1Shock Fear period.

When a patient first learns that he or she has cancer, he or she reacts violently, with shocks and fear, as well as some somatic reactions.

2.Denial of the period of suspicion.

When the patient has calmed down from the intense emotion**, the denial mechanism is often used to cope with the tension and pain caused by the cancer diagnosis. Collected by the Medical Education Network*.

3.Anger and frustration.

When the patient's efforts do not change the diagnosis of cancer, emotions become irritable, angry, and sometimes aggressive; At the same time, feelings of sadness and frustration arise spontaneously.

4.Acceptance of the acclimatization period.

The fact of the disease cannot be changed, and the patient will eventually accept and adapt to the fact of cancer, but most patients have difficulty returning to the state of mind before the disease, and often enter into chronic depression and pain.

Denial period. When most patients first learn that they have cancer, their initial reaction is mostly denial, and they will encourage denial, rejection, and acceptance of the facts. The typical manifestation of this period is restlessness, restlessness, and attempts to escape from reality, and they seek medical treatment or even home remedies with the mentality of luck, and at the same time always suspect that the doctor's diagnosis is wrong.

This kind of denial is a manifestation of self-defense.

Anger period. When denial can no longer continue, the psychological reaction is anger and jealousy, and the patient often thinks resentfully, "Why do I have this disease, it's not fair."

The anger expressed by the patient, which often leads to anger towards family members and health care workers, should be understood as a venting psychological response to the threat of death.

Agreement Period. The agreement period is also known as the bargaining period. This phase is generally short-lived and less pronounced than the first two.

The so-called "bargaining" may be the patient's "bargaining" with his or her own fate, begging the god of fate to give him good luck and be able to have a miracle of cancer disappearing or healing itself; It may also be that the patient is "bargaining" with the medical staff, begging the doctor to give him "good medicine", and asking an authoritative expert to give him **. The psychological response of the agreement period is actually an attempt to delay death, a natural process of psychological development.

Depression period. After going through the first three stages, the patient's body becomes weaker, the disease worsens, and he realizes that the negotiation is ineffective, and he will lose the life he loves, his family, and his work, which is extremely valuable, and his anger or anger will be replaced by a great sense of loss. Patients in the depressed phase are mainly manifested by apathy to the food around them, reduced speech, unresponsiveness, lack of interest in anything, frequent crying and sadness, willingness to be alone or prefer to have one or two people they like around.

This period lasts for a long time, and it should be noted that some patients will have suicidal thoughts. Rent an eye.

Acceptance Period. After going through the above four stages, the condition is deteriorating, the health is getting worse, they have lost all hope and strength to struggle, so they have to accept the reality. At this stage, the patient often shows a surprising calmness and no longer complains about fate.

They will be very calm and work with others to accomplish what they have not yet done. At this time, the patient realizes a mental process of transcending reality and self.

Personality traits closely related to cancer are as follows: individuals are more introverted, sulking but not cathartic; On the surface, it is easy to be submissive and uncomplaining, but deep down he is resentful.

Generally speaking, if you have cancer, or the cause of cancer, it is mostly because the person has a history of mental trauma and is depressed; The mood is always in a state of tension and is prone to anxiety; On the surface, he is always willing to sacrifice himself, but he is extremely reluctant on the inside; When encountering difficulties, they do not overcome them, and always procrastinate; Afraid of competition, it is always easy to escape from reality, and try to use palliative methods to achieve a psychological balance.

We usually have to maintain a positive and optimistic attitude, we can't always sigh and sigh, Liang Wan complains here and there, it must be bad, and it is easy to cause depression.

Cancer personality "has two kinds of mental activities: repression and denial. Repression is an activity that closes emotions and does not vent to the outside world; Denial, on the other hand, is the denial of the existence of painful experiences, thoughts, and emotions.

Cancer personality refers to people who are easily depressed, depressed, and always in negative energy emotions. In fact, there are many people in life whose cancer is caused by emotions.

The specific manifestations of "cancer personality" include: introverted personality, on the surface submissive and uncomplaining, but inwardly resentful, painful struggle, and a history of mental trauma.

Cancer personality refers to the personality traits of individuals who are prone to cancer. Personality is closely related to cancer, according to relevant statistics, cancer patients generally have certain specific personality traits, and people with these personalities are more likely to get cancer than people with other personalities, so it is called "cancer personality".

Disappointment, depression and pessimism. People with this kind of personality are very prone to metastasis once they get cancer, and their condition deteriorates rapidly. An analysis of foreign politicians has confirmed that most of the people who die of cancer are cancerous.