Carcinophobia (carcinophobia) is a pathological fear of cancer. This specific phobia is actually dangerous - in some patients it leads to constant visits to doctors, but others, for fear of hearing a potential, unfavorable diagnosis, completely avoid visiting doctors' offices. Cancerophobia and the resulting "I think I have cancer all the time" attitude can also have a significant impact on the daily functioning of the patient - so is there any treatment for this anxiety disorder? Find out how to help yourself.
Cancerophobiais fear of developing cancer. It should be emphasized that neoplastic diseases are now a real problem of the human population. Unfortunately, the number of cases of various types of cancer is systematically increasing. As an example, we can provide data on Poland - in 2014, almost 160,000 patients suffered from cancer, but two years later, in 2016, this number exceeded 180,000. The current prognosis is also not optimistic - it is estimated that even more than one in four people will develop a neoplastic disease during their entire life.
Nowadays, cancers are simply frequent. They can develop in people of any age group - neoplastic diseases occur in young adults and the elderly, but also in children. Some neoplasms, provided they are detected early enough, have a relatively high cure rate (this is the case, for example, in breast cancer), while others have a much worse prognosis (as is the case, for example, in pancreatic cancer).
Considering all these factors, it is perhaps not surprising that patients are simply concerned about cancer. Certain fears are indeed completely natural, but some people experience a pathological fear of cancer - this problem is referred to as carcinophobia (it can also be referred to as carcinophobia).
Causes of carcinophobia
Cancerophobia belongs to the anxiety disorders from the group of specific phobias (this means that this problem belongs to the same group of mental disorders as e.g. claustrophobia or fear of heights). Generally, the causes of specific phobias, including cancerophobia, have not been identifiedwell known so far. It is believed that genes inherited by patients may contribute to their development - this conclusion was made on the basis that people in whose family someone has experienced some kind of anxiety disorder are themselves more prone to developing similar problems. The potential causes of specific phobias are also various problems related to the educational process (such as, for example, the extreme overprotection of parents), as well as the experience of traumatic events (e.g., physical violence or taking part in an accident). However, in the case of a specific phobia, which is carcinophobia, other factors are taken into account as its causes. There is a hypothesis that people in whose families there were (especially many) cases of neoplastic diseases are more predisposed to the development of pathological fear of cancer. A greater risk of carcinophobia would also apply to those in whose environment someone suffers from cancer.
Cancerophobia, so I think I have cancer all the time
As it is easy to guess, the symptoms of carcinophobia are directly related to neoplastic diseases. A patient struggling with this specific phobia may experience:
- obsessive thoughts about a possible cancer,
- beliefs that he will surely die soon due to cancer,
- misinterpreting signals from his body: any condition may lead to the belief that he has just developed cancer (for example, any headache may be related to a tumor of the central nervous system, while any abdominal pain may be treated as a symptom of gastrointestinal cancer).
The aforementioned ailments can completely dominate the patient's life - constant fear of developing cancer may make it difficult to concentrate on family and professional life. Quite rarely, but nevertheless symptoms of carcinophobia may affect the somatic sphere, what's more - patients may even have episodes resembling panic attacks.
Symptoms of such a state may include :
- significant increase in sweating,
- heart rate acceleration,
- shortness of breath,
- feeling of pressure or pain in the chest,
- rapid breathing.
Pathological fear of cancer leads not only to the problems described above, but also significantly influences the behavior of the patient experiencing carcinophobia. There are two typical attitudes of behavior in people with cancerophobia - which oneare?
Two attitudes of people with cancerophobia
1. Continuous visits to doctors
Some people with carcinophobia still visit various specialists and require them to conduct further tests. Also when their results do not deviate from the norm. Even in these cases, they are convinced that they have cancer. Such patients may wish to consult a physician on any ailment they experience, even one that would not be upset by the experience of a person without carcinophobia.
2. Complete opt-out from medical care
Other patients with cancerophobia avoid visiting doctors altogether. They do it because they are extremely afraid of developing cancer - they associate it with a disease that cannot be cured, always ends in death, and for this reason they simply do not want to be diagnosed with a potentially unfavorable diagnosis. This attitude is much more dangerous than the one described above - it means that a patient with cancerophobia, even if he experiences symptoms suggesting cancer, does not see a doctor. Avoiding medics in a situation where cancer can actually develop in a patient is extremely dangerous. After all, many of these conditions can really be cured if detected early. Both of the above-mentioned attitudes can definitely complicate the patient's life. Continuous visits to doctors may make it impossible, for example, to undertake normal professional activity, while the complete abandonment of visits to doctor's offices may even have fatal consequences. So how can a patient with cancerophobia be helped?
Worth knowingCancerophobia: how to help yourself?
Patients with cancerophobia should definitely go to the appropriate specialists - and this is not about oncologists, but about psychologists and psychotherapists. Psychotherapy plays a fundamental role in the treatment of cancerophobia. There are generally no drugs for carcinophobia - yes, patients may be prescribed various preparations (mainly anxiolytics and antidepressants), although they themselves will not cure the pathological fear of cancer, but can only "mask" its symptoms. Psychotherapy in patients with carcinophobia is to find the causes of this problem, and then to "shift" the patient's psyche so that fears over the possible occurrence no longer dominate his whole life.
About the authorBow. Tomasz NęckiA graduate of medicine at the Medical University of Poznań. An admirer of the Polish sea (preferably strolling along its shore with headphones inears), cats and books. In working with patients, he focuses on always listening to them and spending as much time as they need.Read more articles from this author