An interview about hope, irrational reactions, spirituality and balance with Maria-Corina Bacalearos, scientific researcher gr III, senior clinical psychologist and family psychotherapist
The term cancer describes a very large category of pathological conditions. There are complex causes and very different individual responses to the causal factors, through the appearance or not of tumors. Against the background of intense discussions between specialists, often even contradictory, although perhaps productive from a scientific point of view, the emotional reaction of the cancer patient and his entourage is uncertain, because the disease is associated with suffering, pain and death. Even though there are currently extraordinary advances in the scientific field regarding the diagnosis and therapeutic interventions in the field of neoplastic diseases, the psycho-emotional reaction of man to illness and pain is in the first phase irrational.
Only then are adaptive resources mobilized. Chronologically speaking, it is difficult to delimit the phases. We can say that at the same time, defense reactions to stress appear as well as ways of adapting to the condition of the disease, of searching for therapeutic solutions and certainties for health and life. They are ambivalent, contradictory psychic manifestations, on an existential terrain in which the fight against illness and death to gain health, balance and life, becomes the basic priority. Of course, the feelings that accompany this fight are intense - a mix of fear and hope, of insecurity and courage, of distrust and hope. Therefore, states of irritability, anxiety, tension and agitation are understandable, accompanied on the other hand by relaxation, calm, satisfaction and joy, depending on the direction in which the success of the diagnosis and therapeutic interventions is moving, as well as the general physical condition of the patient throughout this journey.
The defense mechanisms that can be activated can be the repression and control of negative emotions, as cancer patients can be cooperative, calm, docile, and pacifying in the first phase. However, these emotions can be only an appearance, obtained at the cost of high energy expenditure, used to deny sadness, despair, helplessness, frustration, remorse, regret, anger or rage. These can alternate with periods of acceptance, courage and determination in the fight against the disease, to gain health and life. If the state of crisis generated by the disease overlaps with another human fragility, determined by age, or perhaps by the personality structure, the intensity of the feelings is greater.
On the other hand, if other problems tend to overwhelm the individual, there are also cases in which the disease can be seen by the patient as a temporary refuge, but which will inevitably be followed by an increase in suffering and burden. Denial of the disease can be possible for both the patient and the relatives, accompanied by false positive emotions. Mobilizing psychic, thinking, emotional, and behavioral resources in the fight for health and life is the natural reflex of attitude, manifested by the timely request for medical services.
The correct and committed completion of the medical diagnosis and treatment path (chemotherapy, radiotherapy, surgery, immunotherapy) is the priority and basis for achieving balance on an emotional level, because emotions are consecutive to the life scenarios that a person has in mind or that they create in their social interactions and also through behavior.
Of course, throughout this process, empathetic and at the same time mobilizing communication with the patient and his/her relatives, both those in the family environment and specialists, represents a framework for the development of healthy, regulating, absolutely necessary emotions.
Speaking strictly about emotions, we can say that they can be consistent with reality or inadequate.
It is good to know that the emotional states we have, or in other words, the affective-emotional coloration we experience is a consequence, or appears as a result of the thoughts and scenarios we have, of the mental flashes we have in our minds in relation to a certain thing, situation, or state. Thus, the direction and meaning in which we will represent, imagine, think and interpret our thoughts about life or death will give us the emotional background to a given time.
In discussions with people with cancer, I have observed the mobilization of internal resources towards a sense of appreciation for the simple things in life, perhaps a tendency to give up what previously meant a great effort to obtain in life things that the person would have dispensed with, in favor of valuing concepts about life and a lifestyle oriented towards values related to simplicity, kindness, love, peaceful relationships, forgiveness. It is about valuing a lifestyle in which the work-rest-relaxation ratio is better proportioned, a more courageous affirmation of one's own beliefs, spending higher quality time with loved ones and those close to them, finding sources of happiness in the things desired but neglected until that critical stage of life.
Of course, untreated depression (i.e. a mental state generated by pessimistic ideation, discouragement, with feelings of uselessness and guilt, with no zest for life) can negatively affect both the patient's relationship to the disease and the evolution of the disease itself. It is known and proven through scientific studies that the desire to live is related to a higher life expectancy and a better quality of life.
As I said, our affective states are generated by the way we give meaning to things or interpret situations, that is, by the way we think about situations. Therefore, the family can support a realistic and confident perspective on things. It is necessary to contain the states of pain or physical discomfort experienced by the patient with understanding, emotional warmth, compassion and help. This is possible to the extent that family members themselves adopt a way of seeing the disease with confidence and optimism, within realistic limits.
Sometimes, in such situations, optimism can be contradictory to realism. Often, spiritual searches are the ways in which people manage to give an acceptable meaning to the situations they experience.
Religiosity and spirituality give a meaning to things that we cannot find at the material level of things. Psychologically speaking, religious visions are sources of cognitions and semantic interpretations of things that, through the meaning they have, console and soothe human needs related to life. Spiritually looking at things, we often encounter amazing, miraculous experiences of healing or recovery of the sick in general, or of cancer patients in particular, which are concrete testimonies for other people, because, beyond the immediate material, palpable and predictable, things can unfold surprisingly and unexpectedly, even for specialists, respectively for scientists, in a favorable and healing sense.
Yes, recent studies in the fields of physics and biology support the existence of connections between science and spirituality. My observations are also similar. I believe that a positive belief in healing mobilizes the biological resources of the body towards recovery. In a critical life situation, the source of confidence in the possibility of healing can be sought in the spiritual realm.
Are support groups important?
Yes, they are very important. We are social beings, we need relationships, we need empathy in relationships, and in support groups, empathy manifests itself naturally. The consolation and re-signification of beliefs that take place in support groups have great value and role in maintaining a psychological balance.
Turning to a psychologist has, in my view, a general character. That is, any person who feels an imbalance in their personal functioning, or is simply oppressed by the scenario of their own life situation to which they fail to find an acceptable and functional meaning at the same time, should turn to a psychologist, counselor or psychotherapist. It is good to look at turning to a psychologist with naturalness and simplicity, as an opportunity to speak, to put into words everything that is oppressive and uncomfortable for us. The psychologist is trained and educated for an optimal attitude for different situations of cognitive, emotional and behavioral impairment, so that the opportunity for dialogue with his patient or client is ultimately for the benefit of the patient or client.
The psychologist's professional training, his qualifications, the skills he has, but also the recommendations from other patients or clients he has worked with.
