Symptoms of psychiatric disorders associated with cancer

Cancer should be a nightmare for everyone. No one would think that they would get cancer, but cancer is everywhere in our lives, and cancer patients also have many associated mental disorders. So what are the symptoms of mental disorders associated with cancer? This is unclear to most people, including many cancer patients themselves, mainly because the symptoms of mental disorders associated with cancer are not easy to detect.

In fact, each of us is afraid of cancer. This is mainly because cancer causes great damage to our human body. Most of the time, the damage is irreversible. The final fate of many cancer patients is death. In fact, many people don’t know that cancer can also be associated with symptoms of mental disorders. Let’s take a closer look at it below.

Cancer-associated mental disorders refer to a group of diseases in which certain somatic cells in the body lose normal regulatory control, continue to proliferate, have varying degrees of differentiation disorders, and often invade adjacent tissues or metastasize to distant sites. With the increasing incidence of cancer, it has become a common disease among middle-aged and elderly people. The mental and neurological disorders that accompany cancer patients before and after the onset of the disease have attracted more and more attention.

The etiology of cancer-related mental disorders has not yet been fully elucidated. Cancers of body systems other than the central nervous system are associated with mental disorders. The cause of its occurrence is still unclear, but it is considered to be related to psychological factors. Cancer patients often have bad personality traits before becoming ill, such as excessive repression and poor expression. After developing cancer, they develop mental and psychological disorders on the basis of their original bad personality traits. In addition, non-metastatic factors caused by cancer, such as the secretion of special neurotoxins or hormones by cancer that can damage the central nervous system, and local infiltration of cancer metastasis that causes damage to the central nervous system, are also related to the occurrence of mental disorders.

Symptoms of cancer-related mental disorders are as follows:

1. Shock and Denial

After learning about their illness, most cancer patients have a strong psychological reaction. They are initially shocked and at a loss, and then begin to doubt the doctor's diagnosis and deny that they have cancer.

2. Indignation Period

They blame others, feel angry and resentful, are angry about having cancer, feel that they are being treated unfairly, and even become hostile.

3. Urgent medical treatment period

Seek medical treatment everywhere. Some are blindly optimistic, thinking that it is early-stage cancer and they can avoid death.

4. Depression

Depression, disappointment, or hopelessness may develop as the condition worsens. Often crying, depressed, silent, world-weary, etc. A recent emotional survey of cancer patients found that 45% and 48% of them suffered from anxiety and depression disorders, respectively.

5. Acceptance Period

Knowing that death is approaching, he informed his family and relatives about his final arrangements.

Through the above article’s detailed understanding of cancer-associated mental disorders and the symptoms of cancer-associated mental disorders, I believe most people already have a certain understanding, and our cancer patients should also be clear about it. This is beneficial for cancer patients' self-regulation and their families' careful care of them. I hope that cancer patients can recover as soon as possible.