Existential concerns in late stage cancer

Griffiths, Cem; Norton, Lin; Wagstaff, Grace; Brunas-Wagstaff, Jo

doi:10.1054/ejon.2002.0205

Cited by 21 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 7 publications

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“…Even though Sweden is a secularized country where a majority express their belief in some vague dogma [28], this study as well as others [11,12,34] shows that many individuals who are in a stage where death is approaching have concerns about their philosophy of life. Two aspects of philosophy of life, wondering about why the cancer had occurred and having a feeling of being able to live a good life having or living near a person with advanced cancer, as well as optimism have relevance for these individuals' psychological distress.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 72%

Relevance of philosophy of life and optimism for psychological distress among individuals in a stage where death is approaching

Winterling

Wasteson

Sidenvall

et al. 2005

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The purpose was to investigate the relevance of philosophy of life as well as optimism for the psychological distress among Swedish individuals in a stage where death is approaching. Sixty-nine persons were included; of these were 42 patients newly diagnosed with advanced gastrointestinal cancer and 26 were partners to these patients. The participants' philosophy of life was studied through a semi-structured interview. The interview statements were subjected to content analysis. Optimism was measured by the Life Orientation Test and psychological distress by the Hospitality and Depression Scale. The results showed that optimistic respondents had less psychological distress. Two aspects of philosophy of life had relevance for such distress. These were wondering about why the cancer had occurred and having a feeling of being able to live a good life having or living near a person with advanced cancer. In conclusion, the above-mentioned aspects of philosophy of life as well as optimism have relevance for psychological distress among these individuals, which stress the importance that health-care staff address both patients' and their partners' concerns about their philosophy of life.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 72%

Relevance of philosophy of life and optimism for psychological distress among individuals in a stage where death is approaching

Winterling

Wasteson

Sidenvall

et al. 2005

Support Care Cancer

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“…The existential crisis is a phenomenon best characterised by the intensification of ruminative thoughts related to existence and non-existence (LEE 2008). Crisis evoked by cancer seems not to be culture-dependent: the same existential questions preoccupy patients in Australia (MCGRATH 2004), Japan (MORITA et al 2000), Great Britain (GRIFFITHS et al 2002) and North-America (HALSTEAD et al 2001). WESTMAN and colleagues (2006) pointed out that patients' reflections concentrated on the following topics: meaning of life, God/transcendence, health, work, relationships, sexuality.…”

Section: The Existential Plight Of Cancermentioning

confidence: 99%

The relation of perceived meaning of life, meaning of illness and anxious-depressive symptoms among cancer patients

Elekes¹

2017

EJMH

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Our research is based on the literature that shows meaningfulness is a correlate of mental health both in the general population and in the case of patients with a serious illness such as cancer. We had two major goals: 1) to identify the meaning-categories patients find in their illness; 2) to test the relationships between perceived meaning of life, meaning of illness and negative indicators of well-being, like automatic thoughts, anxiety, depression in the case of a population of cancer patients from Romania.This study was completed in March-June of 2012. A number of 102 cancer patients, interned in the 'Ion Chiricuta' Oncology Institute in Romania, completed a battery of scales that measured perceived meaning of life (Meaning in Life Questionnaire, Meaning in Life after Cancer), the intensity of automatic thoughts (Automatic Thoughts Questionnaire), anxiety, depression (Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale), and answered the question whether they found any meaning in their lives.We could identify the following categories of meaning patients found in their illness: character change, greater appreciation of life, change of priorities, spiritual growth, greater appreciation of close relationships, clarification of goals, development of self-knowledge.In accordance with the literature, our results show that perceived meaning of life (measured by MLaC), correlates negatively with automatic thoughts (r = -0.606), anxiety (r = -0.576), and depression (r = -0.542), and these relations are significant (p = 0.000). Patients who found their illness meaningful, found more meaning in their lives as well (t = 3.041, p = 0.003), and they showed lower levels of anxiety and depression, but these correlations are not significant (p = 0.567 and 0.116).Keywords: cancer patients, existential concerns, meaning of life, meaning of illness, anxiety, depression. Im Einklang mit der Literatur zeigen unsere Ergebnisse, dass der wahrgenommene Sinn des Lebens (gemessen mit MLaC) negativ mit automatischen Gedanken (r = -0,606), Angst (r = -0,576) und Depression (r = -0,542) korreliert und diese Relationen signifikant sind (p = 0,000). Patienten, die ihre Krankheit als sinnhaft empfanden, sahen auch in ihrem Leben insgesamt mehr Sinn (t = 3,041, p = 0,003) und hatten weniger Angst und Depressionen, wobei diese Korrelationen nicht signifikant sind (p = 0,567 and 0,116). Das Verhältnis zwischen dem wahrgenommenen Sinn des

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“…A recent proliferation of studies indicates that the existential plight of cancer is not culturally dependent. Numerous studies have explored the profound existential issues faced by cancer patients from Australia [38,48,49], Japan [51], Norway [42], Sweden [5,37], Israel [3,4], UK [30], and North America [6,9,31,45,59].…”

Section: The Existential Plight Of Cancermentioning

confidence: 99%

The existential plight of cancer: meaning making as a concrete approach to the intangible search for meaning

Lee

2008

Support Care Cancer

144

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Existential concerns in late stage cancer

Cited by 21 publications

References 7 publications

Relevance of philosophy of life and optimism for psychological distress among individuals in a stage where death is approaching

Relevance of philosophy of life and optimism for psychological distress among individuals in a stage where death is approaching

The relation of perceived meaning of life, meaning of illness and anxious-depressive symptoms among cancer patients

The existential plight of cancer: meaning making as a concrete approach to the intangible search for meaning

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