Healing Via a Positive Emotional Outlook
"Women with breast cancer have always heard how important it is to keep a positive emotional outlook, but recent news indicates that this has no impact on cancer survival. What message does this give women and what should we understand from it? Does this mean that attitude isn’t important during the course of treatment?"
Researchers asserting that mental attitude may not significantly impact on cancer survival rates are missing the big picture and possibly robbing people of their own perceived personal power.
Healing from breast cancer implies not only a physical recovery from the disease (i.e., an absence of cancer cells and a survival) but also a psychological one as well. The process of psychological healing involves more than just positive thinking. A woman with a breast cancer naturally experiences many emotional ups and downs throughout the course of her disease. Although she may not have a direct control over her physical situation, she realizes that she does have power over her emotional state. In the health psychology literature, the concept of perceived control is known to be an invaluable asset for any individual who is fighting for her life. Maintaining a positive, fighting attitude is an essential component to any recovery process as it supports hope.
Hope is the single most powerful motivating factor in determining emotional well-being and life. Most health care practitioners working in the field of oncology or palliative care can relate many stories of how when patients lose hope, they pass on shortly thereafter. Even as the bearer of bad news, oncologists can promote hope throughout the course of the disease process, right to the very end. Ensuring that hope remains alive keeps the spirit of the individual uplifted, heightens treatment compliance, and promotes a healthy quality of life.
Hope is a state that is fostered once all emotions are dealt with in a healthy manner by rolling with these emotional waves. This way of thinking is a far cry from the 1970s, where cancer patients were warned that they could not afford to have a negative thought for fear that these would produce cancer cells. Nowadays, Psychologists are clear about the importance of dealing with all emotions - good and bad. Experiencing and processing a negative emotion is actually a normal and healthy psychological process. Although all emotions should be acknowledged, it does not mean that these emotions need to be entertained and constantly rehearsed. Feeding a negative thought only serves to fuel longer lasting emotional suffering. Individuals can learn how to better manage their emotions and gain control over them.
This process involves allowing the emotions (positive and negative) to surface, to be expressed, and then to be released. This 3-step ‘feel to heal’ approach in dealing with emotions allows for the individual to respect her psychological healing process at her own pace and detach from the emotional pain. As a result, the woman will likely feel more freedom, peacefulness, in greater control of her life situation and have an improved life satisfaction.
Although, according to one researcher, having a positive attitude may not prolong life expectancy, it sure does make living a more enjoyable ride….
© Stephane Bensoussan, M.A., Holistic Psychologist, May 2008
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Mieux vivre avec le cancer
Les solutions naturelles pour atténuer les symptômes
Prix : 29.95 $ CAD
ISBN 13 : 9782761924573