Body, Anjelica

Title:
Psychological and Mental Health Implications in Cancer

Abstract:
In the past century, cancer has grown rapidly across the world, becoming the second leading cause of death. The moment a patient is diagnosed with cancer, the doctor is mainly focused on the patient’s physical health. However, one could also argue that patients who have been diagnosed with cancer should also be evaluated for their mental health. This diagnosis takes a great emotional toll on the patient, as well as their family, but the mental health factors are overlooked by the main focus of the patient’s medications and chemotherapy. Although psychosocial care of caregivers and the patient has been proposed as standard care, few institutions enforce these standard measures to screen for the mental health of the patient and their family (Pirl et al., 2014). Implementing a more disciplined protocol for newly diagnosed cancer patients will help doctors understand how a cancer diagnosis truly affects individuals, forcing them to enhance mental health treatment for these patients. This analysis of cancer patient’s mental health is literature-based research.