Daily Debriefing
Mark T. Hegel, Ph.D. of the psychiatry department and the Norris Cotton Cancer Center at Dartmouth Medical School recently conducted a study showing that almost half of newly diagnosed breast cancer patients are afflicted by significant emotional distress or symptoms of psychiatric disorders before treatment. Hegel and his colleagues screened 236 women faced with breast cancer diagnosis and assessed the patients' emotional and mental health. All of the women reported that their new diagnosis was a source of stress, and this stress was significant enough in almost half the women to possibly merit treatment. Roughly one-tenth of the women showed symptoms of major depression, and another 10 percent had symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder. Because the symptoms of emotional stress often become even worse after treatment begins, Hegel suggests assessing the mental health of more cancer patients.