Cancer arouses fears and concerns related to pain, suffering and death. In this sense, the existing social prejudice is not always based on an objective knowledge of the disease. As a consequence, the experience that an individual may have of a cancer diagnosis is often influenced by subjective experiences, not always adjusted to reality, that people around him or her have had or have had. This will condition and may even determine the subject’s assessment of his or her own situation.
Each cancer patient is unique and should not be compared with others.
Cancer is usually understood as a global label that integrates all types of patients, without taking into account the variability of diagnoses, treatments, consequences, among those who suffer from it, as well as their own strengths and vulnerabilities. The reality is that each cancer patient is unique and cannot and should not be compared with another, no matter how much they suffer from the same type of tumor or location.
Thus, a person diagnosed with cancer must assess his or her personal situation, which combines the information of the professional who is treating him or her with that of his or her socio-familial environment and his or her own fears and expectations. The patient will then reach a conclusion in which he will decide the degree of harm, threat and/or danger that the situation represents for him and, on the other hand, whether there is anything he can do to improve his situation and his capacity for personal control. The conclusion reached may lead to a situation of emotional instability. Already in these early stages of the disease, the psychologist can help, accompanying and facilitating the achievement of a good adjustment to the disease and treatments, helping to maintain an adequate mood and quality of life.