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When Indian actor Tannishtha Chatterjee recently opened up about her ordeal with cancer, she chose to highlight the love and strength she has gathered from her friends and loved ones instead of the pain. “In the darkest moments, I discovered an extraordinary kind of love, the kind that shows up, holds space, and never lets you feel alone. I found it in my amazing friends and my family, whose unwavering support, brought genuine smiles to my face, even on the hardest days,” the actor-director wrote on Instagram. According to an oncologist, getting the right emotional support during a cancer journey can turn around a patient’s approach to the diagnosis and treatment.
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“Emotional support and the role of caregiver is very important in cancer treatment, especially when we are analyzing the treatment outcomes and even survival,” senior oncologist Dr Mandeep Singh Malhotra, Co-founder – Art of Healing Cancer, tells Health Shots.
Benefits of emotional support for cancer patients
Patients who have a better emotional support system and have strong caregiving, benefit in the following ways:
1. Acceptance
“The impact of understanding and accepting having the disease is way better than patients who lack emotional support. We have genuinely seen that patients who lack emotional support go in a denial mode, saying ‘It cannot happen to me! How will I cope up? What will happen to me? What will happen to my work? Or my dependents if I am not able to win over cancer?’ With a strong emotional support system, patients are able to cope up with the acceptance and they don’t go in denial.
2. Controlled anxiety levels
“There is lot of reduction in anxiety and the treatment compliance is way much better. This means patients would follow treatment schedules more diligently. There would be support to help the patient handle the adverse effects of treatment, and even if there is any change of body dysmorphism which may occur during treatment, it can also be handled way more better.
3. Continued productivity
Patients who feel emotionally supported during cancer treatment, tend to feel more secure in the society. “We have seen that patients with better emotional support end up being more productive in society. Their daily life and family structure doesn’t dwindle or get disrupted. Cancer treatment just becomes a part in their life rather than becoming a task,” adds Dr Malhotra.
4. Better health
The doctor suggests there is a lot of research around the fact that that the immune system of patients with better emotional support is better equipped to handle both treatment and its adverse effects, eliminating the cancer cells. So, there is an impact on the positive immunity, which ultimately leads to impact in increased survival,” says the oncologist.
Who can support cancer patients most?
When it comes to support systems for cancer patients, it involves caregivers such as family and friends. Secondly, there are support groups where the patients can discuss personal journeys with other survivors. Thirdly, professional support plays a very important role in helping a cancer patient go through treatment in a stress-free way.
Caregivers can provide emotional support, but they also help to make logistical support easy and practical. From transportation to health management and financial assistance, friends and family members play a significant role in easing the treatment stress in a cancer patients.
Support groups reflect success stories. By opening up in support groups, patients get self-confidence. “Patients feel that if someone else has battled through cancer, they can too. They also get a better understanding of how to handle side effects of cancer treatment from people who have gone through it.
Professional support translates to professional psychological support or a psychiatrist intervention through counselling, if required. “This helps in mitigating these issues of denial and depression.
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