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Cancer is the deadliest disease of our time. Every year, 9 million people die of cancer. People who beat cancer are considered heroes. But do their difficulties end after cure?
WHAT IS PSYCHOLOGICAL REHABILITATION AFTER-TREATMENT OF CANCER?
After the treatment of cancer patients do understand that their life has changed and needs to adapt to it. During illness, a person experienced severe pain and suffering, loss of hope or the meaning of life. And if he manages to become part of a miracle stopping development of the disease – he abruptly realizes that his life can not return to its previous course.
Psychological rehabilitation is an activity necessary to restore a person to a normal full life. In the process of the disease, a person could be less adaptive losing his self-control and trust in people. And all this is due to the human perception of the disease as a traumatic experience. It becomes a bitter shadow of the past, which makes it difficult to enjoy life and return to everyday affairs. After the rehabilitation course, the cancer patient will learn to cope with fears, leave painful memories in the past and learn to live the lifestyle that is necessary for remission.
WHY PSYCHOLOGICAL REHABILITATION IS NEEDED FOR CANCER PATIENTS?
Modern treatment of cancer patients is less and less carried out without a rehabilitation course at the end. This has value for the moral support of a person. This process helps to understand yourself, your attitude to the disease and feelings for other people. It is also important so that the person continues to make efforts to ensure that the disease does not return. Without rehabilitation, people are overcome by fear of the disease, or soon they will begin to neglect preventive measures. A rehabilitation course is needed in order to help a person:
- Get used to a new lifestyle;
- Get used to the status of a person with disabilities;
- Accept changes in the body after surgery;
- Stop worrying about relapse;
- Build relationships with family and friends;
- Return to the professional environment.
WHO NEEDS PSYCHOLOGICAL REHABILITATION AFTER-TREATMENT OF CANCER?
Any person can change after an illness: he becomes more anxious, pessimistic and more cautious. This patient needs the help of a clinical psychologist who will help him return to his family and work, become more open and more confident in himself. The struggle path of the man who defeated cancer continues. Only this time, he should not defeat the disease, but his own fears. Therefore, he needs to undergo psychological rehabilitation. The rehabilitation course will help people who are:
- ashamed of their illness or its consequences;
- cannot accept physical limitations;
- shying away from communicating with loved ones;
- spend a lot of time alone;
- do not follow the lifestyle recommended by the doctor;
- perceive the disease as a traumatic experience.
HOW PSYCHOLOGICAL REHABILITATION OF THE CANCER PATIENT IS CONDUCTED?
The psychological rehabilitation of cancer patients is carried out by a clinical psychologist. This is a person who knows the intricacies of the development of the disease and is trained to support patients. He understands that the psychology of a healthy person and a cancer patient is different, knows what needs are not met by the patient and helps to fill them.
Psychological rehabilitation after cancer treatment takes place in the form of meetings 2-3 times a week with a psychologist. In general, it can take a lot of time: from several months to a year.
During this time, the psychologist builds a trustworthy relationship with the patient. After several meetings, the cancer patient reveals her true emotions and feelings. Recognizing his anxieties and fears is the first step on the road to recovery from illness. Next, the psychologist is working on the situation of the cancer patient. The main issues that are discussed with a specialist:
- What did a person felt when others took care of him?
- Did he feel weak?
- Does he feel incomplete?
- Is he afraid of the return of the disease?
RESULT OF PSYCHOLOGICAL REHABILITATION AFTER CURE OF CANCER
The main achievement of rehabilitation is that a person ceases to see psychological trauma in the disease. He perceives it as an ordinary life difficulty of the past, which he has overcome. For this reason, it ceases to scare him in the future. The patient is no longer tormented by nightmares about the return of the disease.
Also, a person will gain self-confidence. Rehabilitation will help him realize that the disease has not made him worse or weaker than others. He can still live in a family, be a good specialist and enjoy life. The patient will understand that, despite a serious illness, colleagues and friends respect him, and even more than before.
In summary, this awareness will lead to a person becoming more open and more confident in himself. He will be able to establish relations with loved ones, will smile more often, and will cease to be afraid. A cancer patient will be able to live a full life.
He, of course, will have to follow a healthy lifestyle. But after a course of rehabilitation, it will become a conscious choice of a person, and not an indication of a stranger.
If you are interested in clinics which offer rehabilitation after cancer treatment, contact the MediGlobus coordinators. We know places where patients are supported better.
