Psychological aspects of prostate cancer: a clinical review

Abstract

Prostate cancer is the most common non-skin cancer in men. It is fraught with both physical and psychological symptomatology. Depression, anxiety, stress, fatigue, pain and psychosocial factors all affect the patient with prostate cancer. Impotence, erectile dysfunction, sexual issues and incontinence in these patients complicate matters further. Anxiety may exist both before testing and while awaiting test results. Confusion over choosing from various interventions often adds to anxiety and depression in these patients. Various demographic factors and the developmental stage of the couple affect these psychological symptoms. The caregiver may undergo significant psychological turmoil while caring for a patient diagnosed with prostate cancer, which is addressed. The role of nurses in the management of prostate cancer is discussed. The present review looks at psychological issues in patients with prostate cancer from a clinical perspective, with the aim of highlighting these issues for the clinical urologist dealing with these patients. It also explores the consultation --liaison relationship between psychiatrists, psychologists and urologists as a team for the multimodal management of prostate cancer.

Suicide and accidental deaths among patients with non‐metastatic prostate cancer

“…Regardless of the precise underpinnings of this association, this trend is particularly worrisome, not least because of the relatively indolent nature of prostate cancer in general, availability of efficacious definitive treatment methods, and the physical and psychological dysfunction consequential to suicidal ideation seen in men with prostate cancer [32]. Additionally, from an oncologist's standpoint, knowledge of suicide risk profile for prostate cancer vis a vis other cancers may be the logical first step in (a) identifying its unique predisposing factors in this population [24], and (b) customising counselling, treatment, and quality of life discussions [30] regarding body image perception, worries regarding sexual function, and decisional conflict stemming from multiplicity of treatment options (amongst other factors) [23,24,28]. Given that up to 70% of men with prostate cancer attempting suicide have had a recent (<6 months) diagnosis of depression [33], screening men with prostate cancer for the presence of distress and depression during periods of maximum vulnerability (within a year of diagnosis) may allow pre-emptive identification of high-risk men.…”

Perceptions of Iranian Cancer Patients Regarding Respecting their Dignity in Hospital Settings

“…The most negative consequences of cancer include but not limited to anxiety and fear, doubt about belief and religious values, impaired identity and body image, sleep disorders and role function problems (Esmaeili et al, 2012;De Sousa et al, 2012;Afrooz et al, 2014). All of these problems as well as, financial distress, marital issues and ambiguity regarding the future can led to patients' perception of lack of respected dignity (Chochinov et al, 2007;Fathollahzade et al, 2014;Ghasempour et al, 2014).…”

Men’s strategies for preserving emotional well-being in advanced prostate cancer: An interpretative phenomenological analysis

“…Patients with advanced prostate cancer particularly experience decreases in health-related quality of life (Resnick & Penson, 2012), and consequently fare worse in terms of psychological distress and adjustment than those at the localised disease stage (Bloch et al, 2007). As well as emotional distress on receipt of diagnosis and prognosis (Jonsson et al, 2009), men with advanced prostate cancer experience on-going impairments in psychosocial functioning, for example in relation to the physical consequences of disease progression such as pain and fatigue (De Sousa et al, 2012). The limited research into psychological well-being in men with advanced prostate cancer tends to focus on the sideeffects of ADT, for example clinical reports of depression and mood swings relating to testosterone depletion (Sountoulides & Rountos, 2013).…”

“…A diagnosis of cancer inevitably has psychological consequences (Infurna et al, 2012) and the psychosocial burden of prostate cancer is well documented (De Sousa et al, 2012;Weber & Sherwill-Navarro, 2005). Patients with advanced prostate cancer particularly experience decreases in health-related quality of life (Resnick & Penson, 2012), and consequently fare worse in terms of psychological distress and adjustment than those at the localised disease stage (Bloch et al, 2007).…”