Emotional Aspects Of Illness Research Articles

Traditional Cancer Treatments in West Africa: Historical Practices, Current Approaches, and Future Directions

Cancer treatment in West Africa is shaped by a rich tapestry of traditional practices and modern approaches, reflecting both cultural heritage and contemporary medical advancements. This review explores the historical and current landscape of traditional cancer treatments in the region, emphasizing herbal remedies, spiritual practices, and the integration of traditional and modern medical approaches. Traditional cancer treatments often involve plant-based remedies such as African horned cucumber, baobab tree, and soursop, known for their antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and potential anti-cancer properties. Spiritual and ritualistic practices, including prayer, energy healing, and sacred rituals, offer holistic support, addressing the psychological and emotional aspects of illness. The review examines the integration of traditional and modern practices, highlighting the potential benefits of a collaborative approach while addressing challenges such as safety, efficacy, and cultural sensitivity. Research efforts are focused on validating traditional treatments through scientific studies, standardizing remedies, and ensuring safety. Socioeconomic and cultural factors significantly influence treatment choices, with traditional medicine often serving as a more accessible and culturally resonant option for many patients. Case studies and community experiences provide valuable insights into the practical application of these treatments and underscore the importance of respecting cultural contexts. This review aims to provide a comprehensive understanding of traditional cancer treatments in West Africa, offering recommendations for future research and practice to enhance cancer care through an integrative and culturally sensitive approach. Keywords: Traditional Cancer Treatments, West Africa: Historical Practices.

The Importance of Spiritual Mindfulness in Palliative Care.

Palliative care is a specialized medical approach that aims to improve the quality of life for individuals facing serious illnesses. While palliative care addresses the physical and emotional aspects of illness, one dimension often overlooked but of great significance is spirituality. Many end-of-life caregivers fail to incorporate spirituality as part of the holistic approach in end-of-life care. It is crucial that all physicians and medical professionals possess a holistic understanding of caring for the whole person. Integrating spirituality and mindfulness into palliative care can lead to profound benefits for both patients and caregivers, offering comfort, solace, and a sense of purpose in the face of mortality. This correspondence adds to the discussion on importance of spiritual mindfulness in palliative care.

Consultation-liaison psychiatry training in Europe: where do we stand?

Consultation-liaison psychiatry is a subspecialty of psychiatry that focuses on the interface between mental health and general medical care. In Europe, consultation-liaison psychiatry has a long history and is an established field of practice. The primary goal of consultation-liaison psychiatry is to provide psychiatric assessment, diagnosis, and treatment to patients with medical or surgical conditions that impact their mental health. Consultation-liaison psychiatrists work collaboratively with medical teams to manage the psychological and emotional aspects of illness and its treatment. In addition to providing direct patient care, consultation-liaison psychiatrists also participate in research, teaching, and advocacy activities related to the interface between medicine and psychiatry.

Prevalence of Psychiatric Comorbidity among Patients of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus in a Hilly State of North India.

Background:Psychiatric comorbidity with diabetes mellitus is common. Comorbidity of diabetes and psychiatric disorders can present in different patterns, which are associated with impaired quality of life, increased cost of care, poor treatment adherence, poor glycaemia control and increased emergency room visits. The present study was planned to assess the psychiatric comorbidity in type 2 diabetic patients at tertiary care hospital in a hilly state of North India.Objectives:To study the prevalence of psychiatric comorbidity among patients of type 2 diabetes mellitus and to study the association between psychiatric comorbidity, sociodemographic and clinical variables in such patients.Materials and Methods:A cross-sectional study was conducted after enrolling the eligible diabetic patients attending outpatient department services of medicine department, Indira Gandhi Medical College, Shimla. The Brief Illness Perception Questionnaire was used to assess the cognitive and emotional aspects of illness, Hamilton Depression Rating Scale for assessment of depression, Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale for assessing severity of anxiety and Mini-International Neuropsychiatric Interview 6.0 for screening all major Axis I disorders.Results:Out of 320 patients of type 2 diabetes mellitus screened, 202 eligible patients were enrolled. Depression was the most common psychiatric comorbid illness present in (41.9%) patients. Depression was slightly higher in female patients and persons aged >50 years. Greater prevalence of depressive episodes was there in people with longer duration of diabetes.Conclusion:There were a significant percentage of diabetic patients having psychiatric illnesses. Their attitude towards these comorbidities may be changed by psychiatric counselling at regular intervals.

Medical student interactions with cancer patients: evaluation with videotaped interviews.

In order to evaluate the impact of a block in cancer medicine upon student interactions with cancer patients, a group of 32 students have been videotaped during interviews with simulated and genuine cancer patients before and after the block. The videotapes were scored and analyzed for frequencies and patterns of interactions by the method of Reciprocal Category Analysis. This disclosed significant decreases in purely factual questions by the students, with corresponding increases in discussion of emotional aspects of illness, following the course. The temporal pattern of interaction also changed with less of a tendency to delay or avoid addressing emotional aspects of disease noted. In addition to demonstrating changes in student interactions with cancer patients following a didactic course, this study exemplifies an approach offering more direct assessment of physician-patient interactions than has been practical using questionnaires.

The body image of children of nursery school age

Both from the view of the pediatrician (16) and the child analyst (3, 6, 9, 21), and recently, too, by behavioral biologists (15) the emotional aspects of illness and hospitalization have been treated with increasing differentiation. On the other hand there are only few studies regarding the cognitive aspects of the problem, i.e. the concepts children have of their bodies and of illness, which depend on the momentary level of their intellectual development. Children's ideas and fears arising from illness or hospitalization frequently can only be understood with the knowledge of the actual body-image. Therefore we have tried to investigate by interviews and drawings of three- to seven-year-old preschoolers their conceptions of the interior of the body and its function. The sources of these ideas were discussed and some suggestions were made how the results of the study could be used in hospital and kindergarten.

Influencing students' attitudes towards the emotional aspects of illness.

ONE assumption basic to the psychosomatic approach is that emotional stress can be responsible for organic disease as well as functional disorders. In teaching psychosomatics there are, therefore, two different though closely interrelated aspects of the subject which have to be taught. The first is concerned with the anatomical pathways and neuro-physiological and endocrine mechanisms through which alterations in cerebral activity corresponding to various emotional states can lead to changes in peripheral organs. The other aspect deals with the psychological processes connected with stress and conflict, including consideration of the patient’s personality development and make-up, his life situation, his inter-personal relationships, including that to his doctor and the inner, conscious and unconscious mental processes which constitute the totality of his experience. These topics differ fundamentally from the physiological and pathological considerations which form such a large and essential part in the teaching of medicine. It is with the problem of how to teach and interest medical students in the emotional aspects of illness that this paper is concerned. From the side of physicians, Sir Robert Platt [l] has recently put forward a strong plea that medical education should lay more emphasis on emotional aspects of illness : “It seems incredible that what we have accepted for a few hundred years as a basic training for medicine should exclude almost any reference to the unconscious mind in human behaviour for, although most Universities give some lectures in psychology to their medical students, academic departments of psychology are all to often concerned with precise methods of measuring the irrelevant rather than with exploring the origin of human emotion”. From the side of the psychiatrists, Sir Denis Hill [2] among others, has emphasized the importance of teaching students alongside scientific medicine and psychiatry more about the role of their own personality, the doctorpatient relationship and the role of stress and personality factors in psychosomatic illness. In a critical and constructive review of a collection of papers on training in psychosomatic medicine, Thomae and Turquet [3] also point out that in spite of many divergent views expressed most authors agree that pre-clinical and clinical students should get some training in the psychological aspects of illness. Their own suggestions are strongly influenced by experience gained in Balint-type training groups for general practitioners at the Tavistock Clinic [4], based on psychoanalytic principles and Balint [5] is now using similar techniques in the teaching of medical students. That students differ considerably in their attitudes to the emotional aspects of illness is of course well known. In an interesting statistical study of 112 medical students graduating at Edinburgh Walton, Drewery and Phillip [6], using delegate

Differences Between Physically-minded and Psychologically-minded Medical Practitioners

Concern is now general (College of General Practitioners, 1958; Hill, 1960; School of Medicine and Human Biology, 1963) that doctors are inadequately trained for a number of the demands made on them in practice. Many doctors are not equipped to treat emotional disorders and to collaborate with psychiatrists in the treatment of psychologically ill patients. Under present conditions many young doctors graduate with a distinct antipathy to the social and emotional aspects of illness (Walton et al., 1963; Walton et al., 1964). Experienced general practitioners sometimes express strong dislike for the psychological component of their practice and disinclination to get any further training in psychological medicine (Rawnsley and Loudon, 1962). Even those doctors who do seek instruction in psychiatry differ widely in the type of teaching they want and in their attitudes to patients (Walton, 1965). Many of those selecting themselves for training are unsuitable (Balint et al., 1966).

INTEREST OF GRADUATING MEDICAL STUDENTS IN SOCIAL AND EMOTIONAL ASPECTS OF ILLNESS.

INTEREST OF GRADUATING MEDICAL STUDENTS IN SOCIAL AND EMOTIONAL ASPECTS OF ILLNESS.

Psychotherapies Et Psychanalyse

With the medical profession's growing awareness of the patient as a psycho-biological entity, psychiatric assessment and treatment have become so prevalent that the physician is expected to appreciate the emotional aspects of illness and often required to include psychotherapy in his office or bedside routine. Some cases would be more effectively handled by him than by the psychiatrist; others demand special skills and should be referred to a colleague with the requisite training. Many misunderstandings and disappointments could be avoided if the medical practitioner had a clearer view of the specific indications and methods, scope and limits of psychiatric care. In this paper, discussion is restricted to psychotherapy and an attempt is made to differentiate between its various types and applications; special attention is given to psychoanalysis. The common characteristics and basic postulates of psychotherapeutic techniques are examined. Their choice is determined by the relative importance of actual situations and internal conflicts, the dynamic structure of the psychological disorder and the objective of symptomatic relief or personality change. The mechanism of the cure, particularly the transference reactions, are compared. Adjustment to reality and reeducation of the patient are opposed to his confrontation with his unconscious world.

GROUP PRACTICE

As the member of this panel who represents pediatric group practice, I believe it is for me to suggest how such group practice may aid or abet or, at least, fit into the concept of the "Newer Pediatrics." I do not believe that there is truly a "New Pediatrics." I think we are simply attempting to define something that has been around a long time, but which has been successfully applied by only a fraction of practicing pediatricians. Almost a year ago I gave a talk to a group of residents who had requested my thoughts on the meaning of the term, "Newer Pediatrics." I am not sure that I made myself entirely clear to them, which implies that I was not wholly clear myself as to all the implications in this concept. However, permit me to read to you the last paragraph of my talk. Further reflection has given me no cause to change the content. "I conceive of the ‘Newer Pediatrics’ as being an approach to practice which requires the pediatrician not only to be well grounded in the diagnosis and treatment of disease, but to be sensitive to the psychological and emotional aspects of illness and general growth and development; furthermore, it requires that he be able, either by his own ability, or by using the abilities of his specialized colleagues, to make available to the families in his practice pediatric care which encompasses these factors in a fashion satisfactory to himself, to his patients, and to their families.

The Practical Importance of Modern Concepts of Psychosomatic Relations

THE term psychosomatic in its present-day usage serves commonly to designate a group of diseases with organic changes in which emotion is thought to play an important etiologic role. It is unfortunate, however, that there is a tendency to think of this approach as constituting still another specialty within the body of medicine. It would be far healthier if a broader concept could be adopted in which the attempt to study and describe both the physical and emotional aspects of illness could be viewed as a step toward the unification of all medical knowledge as it pertains to disease in . . .