Cancer and Depression: How to Deal with the Stress Research Paper by scribbler

Cancer and Depression: How to Deal with the Stress
A review of two theories on how to deal with the depression in cancer patients.
# 153169 | 1,953 words | 7 sources | APA | 2013 | US
Published on May 05, 2013 in Medical and Health (Nursing) , Psychology (Disorders)


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Description:

The paper relates that depression is a common feature amongst cancer patients and it results in higher mortality rates. The paper reviews Janet B. Younger's middle-range theory that suggests that stress is produced by feelings of alienation and solitude, and that by building connections, the caregiver can enable the patient to surmount this stress. The paper then reviews Richard Lazarus's cognitive approach to stress that depicts stress and its mitigation as initiating from cognitive appraisal. The paper explains that by helping patients to perceive the cancer situation as a challenge, the individual will better overcome his feelings of depression and will benefit from a more favorable treatment outcome.

Outline:
Middle-range Theory to Problem
Borrowed Theory to Problem
Conclusion

From the Paper:

"As recently as the 1980s, it was taken as a given that depression was synonymous with oncology, but an early report conducted by the Psychosocial Collaborative Oncology Group (1983) found depression to be less rampant amongst cancer patients than expected. Using criteria from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-Third Edition (DSMIII), and sampling 215 randomly selected hospitalized and ambulatory adult cancer patients, the Group found that 53% of the patients were actually adjusting well to the stress, whilst only 13% of the remainder suffered marked depression (68% of the remainder had mild to moderate depression, and 4% had a preexisting anxiety disorder). The authors concluded that nearly 90% of the observed psychiatric disorders were consequences of the disease, but that it was far below what one would have expected of the general population.
"Two other early studies, also using DSM-III criteria, found a 42% prevalence of depression amongst 62 adults hospitalized on oncology units. 24% of this depression was severe and 18% moderate. In this case the prevalence of depression was largest amongst men (32 male and 30 female). In a similar case, however, the rate of depression was equally spread (40 males, 40 females) with 33% prevalence existent (Massie, 2004)."

Sample of Sources Used:

  • American Psychiatric Association. (1980) Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders. 3rd ed. Washington (DC): American Psychiatric Association.
  • Dienstbier, R. A. (1989). Arousal and physiological toughness: Implications for mental and physical health. Psychological Review, 96, 84-100.
  • Frankenhaeuser, M. (1986). A psychobiological framework for research on human stress and coping. In M.H. Appley and R. Trumbll, eds. Dynamics of stress: Physiological, psychological, and social perspectives. New York: Plenum.
  • Lazarus, R.S., & Folkman, S. (1984). Stress, Appraisal and Coping. New York: Guilford.
  • Massie, M.J. (2004) Prevalence of Depression in Patients With Cancer Journal of the National Cancer Institute Monographs 32, 57-71

Cite this Research Paper:

APA Format

Cancer and Depression: How to Deal with the Stress (2013, May 05) Retrieved March 20, 2023, from https://www.academon.com/research-paper/cancer-and-depression-how-to-deal-with-the-stress-153169/

MLA Format

"Cancer and Depression: How to Deal with the Stress" 05 May 2013. Web. 20 March. 2023. <https://www.academon.com/research-paper/cancer-and-depression-how-to-deal-with-the-stress-153169/>

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