By Robert Firestone
Separation Theory integrates psychoanalytic and existential systems of thought by showing how early interpersonal pain, and separation anxiety and later death anxiety lead to the development of powerful psychological defenses.
Read on www.psychalive.org
CLEAR ALL
“For your husband, your illness may have made him acutely aware of not just your mortality, but also his own.”
You not calling, as a friend, can actually compound the grief and loss they are feeling. Just pick up the phone, even if you get it wrong, just have a conversation and do your best. Your friend with cancer is still the same person they were before.
It is extremely difficult for anyone, especially young people in their 20s and 30s, to be told that their treatment(s) haven’t worked. If the cancer you have continues to progress despite treatment, it may be called end-stage cancer.
The time between diagnosis and death presents an opportunity for “extraordinary growth.”
Includes Frequently Asked Questions about how to communicate and cope.
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This is written for the person with advanced cancer, but it can be helpful to the people who care for, love, and support this person, too.
When I got sick, I warned my friends: Don’t try to make me stop thinking about death.
Although being in a close relationship during the cancer journey can dramatically improve outcomes, the stress of treatment and the diagnosis itself can take a toll on couples, sometimes in a negative way.
Both providers and patients do have power to shape their experience together, especially if they take the time to have a few crucial conversations. In the spirit of palliation, here are a few things, as a physician, I wish I could share more often with patients and their caregivers.
A month ago, I felt that I was in good health, even robust health. At 81, I still swim a mile a day. But my luck has run out—a few weeks ago I learned that I have multiple metastases in the liver.