Injured Self: Autobiographical Memory, Self-Concept, and Mental Health Risk in Breast Cancer Survivors

The Impact of Unsupportive Social Support on the Injured Self in Breast Cancer Patients

“…In general, being treated as a person, and not just as a patient, is essential to restore the overall Self and promote patient adherence to treatment (Schulman-Green et al, 2016 ). Breast cancer patients who perceive a sense of autonomy tend to be actively involved in a shared decision-making process becoming more able to adopt adaptive coping styles (Sebri et al, 2020 ). In the light of the benefits of a good quality social support for the patient's Self, it is of primary importance to identify the potentially risky provisions of support that may aliment specific Injured Self dimensions.…”

“…Recently we have proposed the term “Injured Self” to describe how experiencing a chronic illness may deeply affect one's own self-representation, both bodily and narrative (Brown et al, 1986 ; Sebri et al, 2020 ). According to Self discrepancy theory and related studies the self is a malleable, dynamic and multiple construct (Markus, 1977 ; Higgins et al, 1985 ; Markus and Kunda, 1986 ), multiple self-representations coexist (e.g., ideal self, actual self, ought self, good and bad self) and can be activated to guide behaviors at any particular moment due to a number of factors that make them salient in a social situation.…”

“…At the same time, regarding narrative representation, one's identity can be affected by storylines articulated around the relationship between self-representations and autobiographical memories, such as the experience of a breast cancer (Nieto et al, 2019 ). This way, both bodily and narrative representations connected to the illness experience can concur to an added self-representation, defined as the Injured Self (Sebri et al, 2020 ). The Injured Self actively influences everyday life decisions because it is connected to the ongoing expression of one's own identity in emotions and behaviors (Giffard et al, 2013 ).…”

“…The Injured Self actively influences everyday life decisions because it is connected to the ongoing expression of one's own identity in emotions and behaviors (Giffard et al, 2013 ). The experience of a non-association between autobiographical memories, bodily sensations, and real-life events can destroy a coherent and integrated sense of Self (Sebri et al, 2020 ). Breast cancer patients have to reframe the overall Self with the integration of the Injured Self as that of a patient based on the autobiographical memory of the cancer experience, body image distortions, and their related emotions.…”

The Efficacy of Psychological Intervention on Body Image in Breast Cancer Patients and Survivors: A Systematic-Review and Meta-Analysis

“…BI is generally defined as “internal representation of one's own outer appearance” (Thompson et al, 1999 , p. 4) that involves the mental representation of one's own body and related emotions within an overall sense of bodily self (Lewis-Smith et al, 2018 ; Sebri et al, 2020b ). Perceptual (i.e., accuracy of estimated body size), attitudinal (i.e., subjective satisfaction about one's own body), cognitive (i.e., involvement in appearance belief about the body), affective (i.e., sensations and emotions), and behavioral dimensions (i.e., compensatory behaviors such as dieting and physical activity) are involved (Cash and Smolak, 2011 ).…”