2023-11-16 10:43:45
Receiving a cancer diagnosis is always a shock, but if it is pancreatic cancer it is even more intense as it is associated with a poor prognosis. Psychology helps patients navigate a climate of “realistic hope,” manage the illness, and avoid stigma.
A man watches the sunset sitting on the boardwalk in Havana (Cuba). EFE/Alejandro Ernesto
On World Pancreatic Cancer Day, the third Thursday of November, we interviewed Fatima Castanospecialist in psycho-oncology: “We work a lot in short-term therapy, in making decisions that have to do with the now, we do not have to navigate in a climate of healing, but in a realistic hope.”
In 2023, it is estimated that there will be 9,280 new cases of pancreatic cancer, according to data from the report “Cancer figures in Spain” from the Spanish Society of Medical Oncology (SEOM), a tumor that is the fourth cause of death from cancer in Spain. with more than 7,000 deaths annually.
Most patients are between 65 and 70 years old at the time of diagnosis and the absence of symptoms in the early stages means that in most cases it is diagnosed in an advanced and therefore incurable state.
“I do not believe that all cases of pancreatic cancer are a death sentence; we must look for psychological tools that can help each person adapt as best as possible,” the psychologist emphasizes.
Avoid stigma
The specialist, who works at the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Madrid, also collaborates with various patient organizations, including the Pancreatic Cancer Association (Acanpan) with which he organizes different talks on how to manage fear, anxiety, sadness…
The impact of the diagnosis requires a period of normalization, a period of adaptation for patients and families.
“The diagnosis of pancreatic cancer is a stigma greater than that of other oncological processes”, especially due to the poor prognosis that it entails, says the expert.
For this reason, these talks seek to avoid the “sense of loneliness and isolation” and for patients to consider themselves “different” from others affected by oncological processes.
“We live with fear and tremendous personal and family overload,” he points out.
Furthermore, there is the “feeling of guilt”, as occurs in other cancers, certain lifestyle habits do influence, although cancer is always due to multifactorial causes.
“You may wonder what have I not done well and that can lead to a worse state of mind, less use of resources and, sometimes, there is blaming on the part of the family,” says the psychologist.
“I tell patients: We are not guilty, but we are responsible and from now on we must take measures, take care of ourselves, carry out the treatment well, try to seek resources not only medical…”
The psycho-oncologist Fátima Castaño. Photo provided
Psychology in pancreatic cancer: realism and hope
Psychology or psycho-oncology in a pancreatic cancer process is based on “increasing the feeling of hope and control of the situation, something that patients feel they do not have.”
A work based on a scenario of “realistic hope” where it is assumed that healing, for the majority of cases, is difficult but that focuses on the elements that can be helpful, banishing “negative anticipation” and focusing on the present.
“Patients come to the consultation with the weight of statistics, but I believe that each patient has the possibility of navigating their own process and generating their personal expectations.”
Psychology helps the pancreatic cancer patient to take control of their illness, to be an empowered patient, but also to identify their emotions, such as fear and anxiety, and be able to communicate them.
“We may think – indicates Fátima Castaño – that they may have that universal fear of death, but many of them fear pain, dependency, treatment…that is why it is necessary to identify fears and share them with the family, with loved ones. and even with the medical team that can also help remove erroneous beliefs.
The family also, on many occasions, needs the help of psycho-oncology when faced with the care of a patient with pancreatic cancer by becoming a fundamental support, both physically and emotionally, so they cannot forget to take care of themselves.
A blow in a new life stage
Most diagnoses come from the age of 65-70, an important life stage for many people who are finishing their working lives and who today have a long way to go to enjoy themselves in good physical condition.
“The diagnosis of pancreatic cancer comes at a very difficult time, in which many plans are truncated. You also have to live that grief, that of everything that I will not be able to do,” says the psycho-oncologist.
Situations that pancreatic cancer patients could raise in their conversations with the psycho-oncologist.
“I have found a desire to live, a desire to normalize the process, to talk about pancreatic cancer with more realism and less pessimism, to share with other patients…and to see a little hope,” concludes psychology specialist Fátima Castaño.
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