Why Prescribe Mental Health
When putting together a treatment plan,
we have to prioritize mental wellness as an essential piece.
When a patient is diagnosed with cancer they are confronted on all levels. Physically, socially, emotionally, economically.
From the moment they hear the word Cancer, their life has changed. They will be facing challenges they weren’t prepared to take on. An onslaught of emotions, appointments, decisions, treatments, surgeries, doctors, symptoms, pills, reports, and the list goes on….
Putting the right medical team in place is imperative and that medical team should include a mental health professional. Without a mental health professional, the burden falls on
-family and friends, who are also coming to terms with the diagnosis;
-GP’s who are faced with a system that only allows a couple minutes per patient
-oncologists who already have their hands full with the task of physically managing the cancer.
-the patient to manage it on their own.
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Mental Wellness and Physical Wellness
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The connection between mental wellness and physical wellness is complicated you cannot treat one without considering the other.
Mental wellness is more than just trying to remain positive during a difficult life experience, it is also about mitigating the physical effects of extreme emotions on the body.
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- are the symptoms patients experience from emotional burden or treatments
- are emotionally taxed patients making more trips to the doctor than those being supported emotionally?
-the effects to which emotional distress affect the body are compounding.
-the symptoms of emotional distress, come with their own host of symptoms
-effect of sleeplessness on the body
-effect of a weekend immune system
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Mental wellness and Social support
-reduced social interaction because of emotional distress or physical symptoms of emotional distress
-withdrawal from social interaction linked with reduction in mental wellness
-social support wards off the effects of stress on depression, anxiety and other health problems
-a mental health professional can support patients in finding social support, and community support
-reduced social support linked with reduced physical health: depression, cardio vascular disease, brain function.
If the goal is to support patients in achieving optimal outcomes for their health and recovery from diagnosis to survivorship; mental wellness and professional psychological support nees to be prescribed with the same urgency as physical treatment.