Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Can Cognitive Behavioural Therapy Help Breast Cancer Patients?

Breast cancer patients undergo an enormous amount of psychological stress that starts from the diagnosis stage and continues on during treatment or even after remission. The stress and anxiety levels are particularly high during the 1-year period after diagnosis because the patients undergo treatment such as surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation.

In the past, cognitive behavioural therapy has been shown to be effective in reducing the severity of anxiety in patients who suffer from anxiety-related disorders leading to long-term benefits like better coping skills. Along the same vein, researchers in the department of psychology at the University of Miami wanted to test whether cognitive behavioral stress management (CBSM) intervention would decrease the amount of stress and anxiety of post-surgery breast cancer patients.

128 women participated in a randomized study in which the test group received a 10-week group-based CBSM intervention and the control group only received a 1-day psychoeducation.  Data for anxiety measures as well as physiological data from cortisol analyses were taken from both groups.

The result? Not surprisingly, those who received a 10-week CBSM intervention reported lower cancer-specific anxiety and better physiological adaptation (lower cortisol) compared with the control group. What does all this mean? Well, one thing that seems certain is that cognitive behavioral therapy is beneficial to breast cancer patients, especially during the 1-year post-diagnosis period. And that’s great news, since it’s likely that lower stress levels (lower stress hormone levels) allow the immune system to function optimally which is especially important in a vulnerable period.  

Source: Toronto Psychologist link



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