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Psychological Support for the Breast Cancer Patient

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Management of Breast Diseases

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Abstract

A woman confronted by the diagnosis of breast cancer faces the challenges of a life-threatening illness. The seriousness of the diagnosis, the nature of treatment, and the natural history of illness defines the challenge to coping. Each woman looks to her physician first for clarification of the medical treatment. Since treatment often requires breast surgery, a combination of chemotherapy and radiation, and antiestrogen treatment that hastens menopause, the psychological effects are different for premenopausal women married with children, women concerned about their physical attractiveness or who want to preserve fertility, and women concerned about the effect on their partners. The diagnosis has one meaning for a woman with a family history of breast cancer who suffered in her adolescence as her mother died of breast cancer, and another if she is married to a man who lost his mother to breast cancer.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center, Boston, Massachusetts, 02115, USA

    Donna Greenberg

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  1. Donna Greenberg
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Breast Care Center National Naval Medical Center, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, 4301 Jones Bridge Rd., Bethesda, MD, 20814, USA

    Ismail Jatoi (Head) (Head)

  2. Women’s Hospital, University of Frankfurt, Theodor-Stern-Kai 7, 60590, Frankfurt, Germany

    Manfred Kaufmann (Breast Unit Director) (Breast Unit Director)

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Greenberg, D. (2010). Psychological Support for the Breast Cancer Patient. In: Jatoi, I., Kaufmann, M. (eds) Management of Breast Diseases. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-69743-5_28

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-69743-5_28

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