THE PSYCHOMECHANICS OF THE LANGUAGE OF ADOLESCENTS WITH CANCER IN THE FINAL STAGE OF LIFE

Abstract

Objectives. The objective of the study was to evaluate the psychomechanics of the words used by adolescents who were cancer patients, in the terminal stage of the disease, selected from their posts on social networks. Material and methods. In the first part of 2021, the psychomechanics of the language of posts on social networks from 30 adolescents with terminal cancer was analyzed, using the method of phenomenology, which explores the nature or meaning of everyday experiences. It should be mention that, at the time of the research, all subjects were dead. The words in their last ten posts were classified according to their general lexical meaning and their morphological characteristics. Results. The results of the study showed a 2:1 ratio in favour of the terms of positive emotion, compared to those of negative emotion. This shows that, with or without medical information about the severity of their illness, cancer teens focused on topics that helped them understand and value life, religion, and family, which consequently helped them reduce anxiety and depression regarding death or even the annulment of thoughts of extinction, even if their physical condition was in a visible and rapid degradation. Conclusions. The evaluation of the psychomechanics of the language used in the supporting texts shows that the idea of death or its approach is not as traumatic as people generally expect, which has important implications for how adolescents and cancer patients are should be cared and approached when they are in the terminal stage of the disease. Keywords: adolescents, cancer, language, semantic plethora, psychomechanics.