[Psychological aspects of treatment of patients with head and neck cancer]. / Psychologiczne aspekty leczenia chorych z nowotworami glowy i szyi.

ABSTRACT

One of the basic components that describe treatment success in contemporary oncology is patients' quality of life (QL) depending on specificity of the disease, treatment method, side effect of treatment, the medical prognosis and patient expectations. In reality, the QL is determined by the difference between patients' expectations and the actual health condition. The bigger the difference, the worse the evaluation of QL. Solving the crises, stress situation and starting life in a new way are strictly connected with the reshaping of personality and formation of adequate skills. It means it is necessary to create a new "picture of oneself", "self image" appropriate to the actual health condition and find the optimum way of activating personality protecting system (defence mechanisms). This task is not easy to realise; it is often necessary to introduce the psychotherapy to make it work. The main aim of defence mechanisms is the reduction of fear and other negative emotions, typical for oncological patients. However, the immature and poor defence system of "ego" can, at the same time, protect the personality unity and result in harmful behaviours. But when the "new self image" is made real, the newly learnt personality defence mechanisms are more mature, the patient becomes able to fight with the disease, is able to face the reality, which constitutes the main factor in the increase of QL assessment. To estimate the influence of psychotherapy on QL of head and neck cancer patients we have planned the introduction of psychological intervention (meetings of therapeutic groups).