Can Religion Help the Healing Process of Cancer?
One of the hardest parts of cancer is psychologically dealing with the illness. People know that cancer causes pain, suffering and potentially death. Death. A traumatizing circumstance when faced with prematurely. Patients with this life-threatening disease can easily fall into unhealthy lifestyle due to lack of emotional support, making cancer twice as difficult to try to overcome. Religion and spirituality provide patients with coping mechanisms, support groups and a view of eternal life that gives patients hope for better times to come. Religion and spirituality are proven psychologically components that show positive results when coping with cancer.
When diagnosed with a life-threatening disease like cancer, emotions run high. Fear, vulnerability, hopelessness, despair and the loss of the meaning of life all flood the patient’s mind. “The initial diagnosis is an existential crisis” (Spiegel par 7). This life-threatening disease is attacking the body, while these emotions erode the mind. The need for comfort and support is necessary to sort out the monstrous psychological conflict that accompanies cancer. Is death really a possibly? Facing death alone is a difficult task, but support-groups have been put together and strategies have been created to help patients sift through emotions, ultimately finding meaning to life when suddenly time has been limited.
When faced with death, managing emotions, as well as the negative effects and suffering is critical to the healing process. Researchers in this field agree that comfort and support are needed to try to start the healing process and successfully overcome the fear of death. A patient of Professor David Spiegel, M.D., a...
... middle of paper ...
...t was through this comment that Williams finally understood that her support was essential to her mother coping with the present. Her Mormon believe helped her to understand that standing by her mother during these difficult times, even when they were difficult for her, was were duty and service not only to her mother, but to God.
Williams weaves her Mormon believe into her experiences she describes in Refuge. Her Mormon faith is expressed through the sense of family and community that provided support for her mother. Faith also provides hope. Williams’ mother states, “It (faith) is a belief in a wisdom superior to our own. Faith becomes a teacher in the absence of fact” (Williams 198). Both faith and hope give her mother the ability to cope with death because her Mormon religion believes death is just a transition between human life and eternal life with God.
She cried for days. Patria wondered what she had done to lose her child. When her child died, her faith did too. Patria didn’t want to go to church anymore and she started questioning herself. Is this who I really want to believe in and I just lost my third child?
Sadly, life is a terminal illness, and dying is a natural part of life. Deits pulls no punches as he introduces the topic of grief with the reminder that life’s not fair. This is a concept that most of us come to understand early in life, but when we’re confronted by great loss directly, this lesson is easily forgotten. Deits compassionately acknowledges that grief hurts and that to deny the pain is to postpone the inevitable. He continues that loss and grief can be big or small and that the period of mourning afterward can be an unknowable factor early on. This early assessment of grief reminded me of Prochaska and DiClemente’s stages of change, and how the process of change generally follows a specific path.
Dealing with someone dying is not something that is going to be fun or enjoyable. Death comes to everyone, none of us can duck and dodge it. Death of natural causes is not something that can be controlled by anyone, but it is important for people to be with those that are dying. When someone you know is dying, whether they are friends or family it’s very important for them to feel loved and not alone. It is also important that the opinions and thoughts of the patient be taken into consideration because they are going through something that no one can say they relate to. In dealing with death, there are many emotions that are felt by the sick patient and their friends and family. In A Very Easy Death
It is common for those experiencing grief to deny the death altogether. Many people do this by avoiding situations and places that remind them of the deceased (Leming & Dickinson, 2016). However, by simply avoiding the topic of death and pain, the mourner only achieves temporary relief while in turn creating more permanent lasting agony (Rich, 2005). In this stage, mourners will begin to feel the full weight of the circumstance. Whether the death of a loved one was sudden or long-term, survivors will feel a full range of emotions, such as sadness, guilt, anger, frustration, hopelessness, or grief. While many of these emotions can cause serious suffering, it is important for the survivor to feel whatever emotions come up and deal with those feelings, rather than trying to suppress any
In 1969 Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, a psychiatrist, published the Pioneering book On Death and Dying. The work acquainted the world with the grieving process, called the five stages of grief. Kübler-Ross gathered her research from studying individuals with terminal cancer (Johnson, 2007). The first stage of the grieving process is denial. In this stage the person refuses to believe that their loved one is deceased, a common thought during this period is, “This can’t be happening to me” (Johnson, 2007).The second stage of the grieving process is anger. In this level the person becomes frustrated with their circumstances, a customary complaint is “Why is this happening to me?” (Johnson, 2007). The third stage of the grieving process is bargaining. At this point the individual hopes that they can prevent their grief, this typically involves bartering with a higher power, and an ordinary observance during this time is “I will do anything to have them back” (Johnson, 2007). The fourth and most identifiable stage of grief is depression. This phase is habitually the lengthiest as...
Spiro, Howard M., Mary G. McCrea. Curnen, and Lee Palmer. Wandel. Facing Death: Where Culture, Religion, and Medicine Meet. New Haven: Yale UP, 1996. Print.
Of the estimated 35 million people in the U.S. that are over the age of 65, 6.5 million are in need of some sort of mental health services. (Comer, 2004) However, less than 20% receive treatment (Benek-Higgins, 2008). According to the American Psychiatric Association, there may be instances where a person may not report a depressed mood or sadness, since many including those in the elderly population, may deny such feelings (APA, 1994).Anxieties, irritability, not able t...
If the older patient’s complaints during a routine office visit are being ignored because of their chronological age, successful aging and quality of life will certainly be impacted by lack the of treatment for potential mental conditions. The fact that this ignorance can directly lead to suicide among this particular cohort more than any other group is frightening. Considering that social isolation is a primary reason for the onset of depression among older adults, the importance of physician and other health care provider identification of depression through screening and preventive measures are imperative. According to Blakemore (2009), 40 percent of older people who visit their general physician, half of older adult inpatients in general hospitals and 60 percent of long-term care residents have mental health problems and are often denied access to the same mental health services as younger adults including psychological therapist and drug interventions (p. 6). These numbers are astounding among a group of individuals whose physical health could be directly impacted by improved mental health care. Again, the ageism that influences screening and prevention among older adults is directly impacting the quality of life and chance at active aging among the older population.
Stories of a primeval flood exist in all parts of the world, virtually every branch of the human race has traditions of a Great Flood that destroyed all of mankind, except one family.
Leming, M., & Dickinson, G. (2011). Understanding dying, death, & bereavement. (7th ed., pp. 471-4). Belmont, California: Wadsworth.
We can see that the hospice concept is a bio-psychosocial approach to the dying process, concerned with biological, psychological, and social health. Because of its proponents, Hospice is considered a more humane and sensible approach to terminal illness, combining care, comfort, and support of family and friends as the individual faces death. Their concern for dignity and fo...
The stages of death are known to be a process of mourning that is experienced by individuals from all phases of life. This mourning ensues from an individual’s own death or the death of a loved one. Dr. Elisabeth Kubler-Ross dedicated much of her career to studying this dying process and in turn created the five stages of death. The five stages are; denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance. These stages may not occur in sequence and sometimes may intersect with one another (Axelrod, 2006). The reality of death many times causes a feeling of denial; this is known as the first stage. In this stage, people have many emotions and have a tendency to hide from reality. This reaction is momentary, but should not be rushed. The patient or loved one needs time to adjust to the awaiting death. This adjustment helps bring them through to the next stage; anger. Anger is a common feeling and many times routes from a feeling of not being ready. This emotion may be directed toward God, strangers, friends, family or even healthcare professionals (Purcell, 2006). In some cases, it can be targeted...
Developing depression in later life is not a normal part of the aging but is a treatable illness just like any other physical malady. It is however often difficult to recognize in older patients. This could be because symptoms often present similar to those of dementia (Aldrich & CDC, 2013) or because of the stigma associated with having a mental illness. The older adult population in today’s society was reared in a time when mental illness was not recognized as a “biological disorder and medical illness” (Geriatric Mental Health Foundatio...
Spirit : My Grandma, Mildred Johnson, is a true woman of faith. For as far back as I can remember, my Grandma has been a conveyor of the word of God in developing her family and living her daily life. Never would she miss a Sunday to share the word and love of God. As time moves forward not all of God’s children remain strong enough as before to lead his flock. Nor can all of God’s choir continue to sing quite as loudly as they always have. This is the time when the Lord takes them into his hands to rest their souls as he has now done with Mildred. Make no mistake, however, as the legacy of spirit that she has created in all of us will continue to live on.
I was very excited to take Death and Dying as a college level course. Firstly, because I have always had a huge interest in death, but it coincides with a fear surrounding it. I love the opportunity to write this paper because I can delve into my own experiences and beliefs around death and dying and perhaps really establish a clear personal perspective and how I can relate to others in a professional setting.