How to have a positive attitude towards cancer?

At the time of carrying out cancer treatment in recent years, much attention is being paid to the great importance of having a positive attitude.

To do this, some hospitals have psycho-oncology professionals who can help patients and their families, providing them with tools to deal with the diagnosis and treatment of cancer. But still, it also helps if the patient and/or her family members know ways to foster a positive attitude toward cancer.

So, below we will review several tips on how to be positive about cancer and prevent the appearance of mood disorders, anxiety, etc.

• Related article: "Health Psychology: history, definition and fields of application"

Tips for having a positive attitude towards cancer

When someone receives the diagnosis of having developed any type of cancer, we do not know how they will react, since it varies a lot depending on each person, with a series of variables that usually influence quite (pg. g., age, socioeconomic level and the resources that the patient has to face the treatment, social and family support, etc.).

That is why, whatever the case may be, it is convenient to expose a series of recommendations compiled from the hand of experts in the field about how to have a positive attitude towards cancer, as we will see later continuation.

1. Trust the medical team

It is essential to have a positive attitude towards cancer trust in the medical team that will provide treatment. This way you can begin to actively face the treatment provided and, for this, a good start would be to have fluid communication with the professionals who are going to help you, since they are the main support in order to overcome the disease by carrying out the treatment sessions, providing you with the necessary information, advising you and they could even support you emotionally.

In some teams they even have psychologists who can provide psychological treatment adjuvant together with cancer treatment, in order to help you cope with the disease and its treatment.

Therefore, it is important that the patient knows all the details about his medical condition, about the treatment you are going to receive, the side effects of the treatment, and also about possible changes in about your body image due to the disease and treatment, as well as what you could do to cope with your situation. However, each person is a world and, therefore, has different needs, so you should not cutting back when consulting with specialists all the doubts you may have and never staying with the desire.

• You may be interested: "The 24 Branches of Medicine (And How They Try to Cure Patients)"

2. Express feelings

The second recommendation about how to have a positive attitude towards cancer is to allow yourself enough space to express all the emotions and feelings that can be experienced, what suppressing negative feelings is counterproductive and it can cause greater long-term psychological discomfort, which will make it difficult to cope with the disease and adherence to treatment on a psychological level.

With this, we also mean that the "tyranny of positive thinking at all times" should be avoided, since although having is not can force the fact of having to be well all the time, being normal that moments of sadness are spent and one finds discouraged. The important thing in these cases is to give yourself time to express those feelings and thus let off steam, releasing tensions in order to encourage a globally positive attitude towards the cancer.

• Related article: "The 8 types of emotions (classification and description)"

3. Lean on close people

The third recommendation about how to have a positive attitude towards cancer is to rely on close people such as family, partner and/or trusted friends, since social support is very important to be able to be surrounded by loved ones, since they are the ones who make people happier, being present even in the hardest moments to give all their dear. It is important that they accompany the patient at all times to that you do not feel alone or decay in the hardest moments during the treatment process.

These people can also provide emotional and instrumental support to the patient (eg. e.g., helping you with household chores, accompanying you to radiotherapy sessions, accompanying you to sessions with the psychologist, take him to places by car if needed, go visit him at the hospital, etc.).

Also, people close to the patient must be psychologically prepared for the changes that will happen root of the disease as a result of hospitalization, treatment and also by the new needs of the patient.

• You may be interested: "How to give emotional support, in 6 steps"

4. Try to better understand your own body

The fourth recommendation to have a positive attitude towards cancer would be to try to get to know your own body in greater detail and give it what he asks of us at all times, since it is important to recognize physical and mental strengths and weaknesses, since no one is going to take care of the health of a patient like himself, being the one who knows himself best, so it is important to pay attention to the physical symptoms of his own body Y pay special attention to how certain foods, situations, places affect health and, everything that does not feel good to the body, should be eliminated.

It is important to be careful with everything that can make the body feel bad in order to be as physically fit as possible in order to maintain a positive attitude towards cancer.

• Related article: "Psychoeducation in psychological therapy"

5. Have an active social life while setting certain limits

The fifth recommendation to have a positive attitude towards cancer is to have an active social life, surrounding yourself with trustworthy people with whom you can spend pleasant moments and also share experiences, doubts and fears, just as they did before receiving the diagnosis, in order to lead a life that is as adaptive as possible, thus favoring the well-being of the patient. patient.

A very important function that true friends fulfill is to make us spend pleasant moments at the same time that they do, even if indirectly, make us forget about our worries so as not to always suffer that psychological burden.

• You may be interested: "What is social psychology?"

6. Maintain good lifestyle habits and perform pleasant activities

The seventh recommendation about how to have a positive attitude towards cancer would be to have healthy lifestyle habits such as sleeping enough, don't smoke or drink alcohol, eat healthy, stay active as much as possible (go for a walk every day to the less), carry out recovery exercises or maintain physical fitness within the possibilities of each one, do things that are nice (p. g., read a good book, watch series, etc.) and, of course, dedicate time for oneself and to be with friends and family.

To have a better rest, you can try certain alternatives such as yoga, meditation and/or Mindfulness, since it is proven that they help to fall asleep better, which is essential for the body to rest and find itself with more energy to face day to day.

In addition, practicing certain relaxation techniques can help reduce subjective feelings of anxiety, tension muscle and the activity of the sympathetic nervous system, as well as can be useful in certain stressful situations (p. g., in the days prior to hospital admission, waiting for news from the doctor, transfer to the operating room, etc.).

• Related article: "How to generate new healthy habits?"

7. Adapt vital objectives to a possible progressive limitation

It is also useful to gradually adapt life goals to a possible progressive limitation; the rhythm of life should realistically adapt to each moment. Of course, without ever losing the desire to excel in everything that is possible and not wear more than necessary, in order to promote optimism and self-realization.

If possible, certain skills should be progressively recovered (eg. g., housework, work and other tasks).

8. Seek help from a mental health professional if deemed necessary

A highly recommended option to know how to have a positive attitude towards cancer consists of seek the help of a psychologist who can accompany you during the process of accepting the disease, for help you with possible psychological difficulties suffered comorbidly with cancer (p. g., depression, anxiety, distress, etc.) and to help you cope with the treatment process, among other things. Although on many occasions the hospital where you are being treated has a team of psychologists in charge of providing psychological support to oncology patients.

There are psychologists specialized in psycho-oncology which count among their main functions: having to provide help to patients and their relatives when it comes to coping with the disease and improving adherence to medical treatment. They are also responsible for helping to improve the quality of life of oncology patients, encouraging them to always keep their self-care, helping them to restore their balance on a personal, psychological and family level during the illness and also when they have overcome.

There are a series of psychological needs that both patients and their families may have, such as the following:

• Shock at diagnosis.
• Coping with illness.
• Depression and anxiety.
• Prepare for treatment and hospitalization.
• Manage pain.
• Manage coping with treatment side effects.
• palliative care
• Rehabilitation.
• Assistance to relatives in grief and loss.

Another alternative, which can also be used in combination with medical treatment and psychological help, would be seeking support from an association that is accessible in your locality that is focused on the fight against cancer (eg. example, in Spain there is the Spanish Association Against Cancer), where they provide patients with, among other things, medical and nursing guidance, psychological care, support and social care, accompaniment, etc.