Abstract

The cognitive-personal features of patients diagnosed with breast cancer were studied, i.e. the degree of severity of post-traumatic reactions, the level of actual and personal anxiety, basic personal attitudes relating to the self-image and the surrounding world; the presence of depressive symptoms. As a result, individual post-traumatic stress reactions were highlighted, with distress reaching the level corresponding to the clinical picture of post-traumatic stress disorder. Subjects were registered with subdepression, i.e. pessimistic assessment of events and the self, the reduction of working capacity. Most patients have high rates of situational anxiety. At the same time, the overwhelming majority of patients do not exhibit high levels of personal anxiety. Methodology used: Mississippi Scale (MS, Mississippi Scale, Keane et al., 1988); Spalberger-Khanin's Scale of Situational and Personality Anxiety; Scale of basic beliefs (World Assumption Scale, WAS, Janoff-Bulman, 1982); Beck Depression Inventory (Depression Inventory, BDI, Beck & Steer, 1987). The results demonstrated that basic beliefs of patients have the following specificity: predominantly negative image of the self and the world, confidence in their own failure, inability to control the occurring events. Women suffer from decreasing sense of the value and significance of their selves. The world and surrounding people are perceived as unfriendly, dangerous and untrustworthy, probably due to the quality of social support and the attitude of others as a result of the disease. Thus, the variability of the psychological consequences of the disease and peculiarities of individual responses to the stress is most likely related not to the effectiveness of the treatment (all women in these sample have successfully completed the treatment), but rather to the personal and cognitive characteristics of patients, their basic beliefs and conceptions.

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