Psychiatric Symptoms and Psychosocial Problems in Patients with Breast Cancer.
Cancer is a physical disease and also one of the leading clinical manifestations where psychosocial problems are prevalent. Psychosocial problems that these patients may have in the long run include anxiety, uneasiness, mourning, helplessness, fatigue, impairment of concentration, sleep disorders, mental and cognitive reservation, sexual dysfunction, infertility, psychological distress, and psychiatric disorders. Psychosocial problems have a nature of underpinning the emergence of psychological troubles. The prevalence of psychological disorders in patients with cancer range from 29% to 47%. Psychiatric disorders that are likely to be seen are severe stress disorder, adjustment disorder, depressive disorder, and other neurotic disorders. It is considered by the present author that in the event of breast cancer, potential psychiatric disorders may affect prognosis of the disease, adherance to and success of therapy, social and societal functioning, and survival rate. This paper aims to review the psychiatric symptoms and diseases that may develop in patients with breast cancer, which is one of the most frequent types of a globally common disease; i.e., cancer, as well as the impact of psychiatric symptoms on the treatment of disease.
Department of Psychiatry, İstanbul Bilim University School of Medicine, İstanbul, Turkey.
Filiz
F
İzci
Clinic of General Surgery, Gaziosmanpaşa Taksim Training and Research Hospital, İstanbul, Turkey.
Ahmet Serkan
AS
İlgün
Department of Psychiatry, Kahramanmaraş Sütçü İmam University School of Medicine, Kahramanmaraş, Turkey.
Ebru
E
Fındıklı
Clinic of General Surgery, İstanbul University İstanbul School of Medicine, İstanbul, Turkey.
Vahit
V
Özmen
Breast cancer; psychiatric symptoms; psychosocial problems