Women’s states of mind may affect male partners’ health
Posted Sep 28 2008 7:03pm
According to a report in the April isssue of the Annals of Behavioral Medicine, there is correlation between the state of mind of the female member of a couple dealing with cancer and the male member’s health. Clearly this is of some relevance to prostate cancer patients and their spouses/partners. The study investigated 168 couples in which either the woman had breast cancer or the man had prostate cancer, and had received their diagnosis within the 2 years preceding the study surveys.
According to lead author Youngmee Kim, PhD (in a press release from the Center for the Advancement of Health), “We found an interesting pattern. The psychological distress of the female partner seemed to have the greatest effect — whether the woman was the breast cancer survivor or the caregiver of a man with prostate cancer. If the female has higher level of psychological distress, the male partner will have a higher level of psychosomatic problems.”
The study’s results suggested that husbands whose wives are under high stress rarely reported psychological or emotional problems. In other words, a man with a stressed-out wife is likely to report an impact on his physical health, not his emotional well-being.
According to Kim, men don’t acknowledge that the psychological stress associated with cancer diagnosis and treatment is a particular problem. Rather, “They tend to somatize those stresses, reporting headaches, backaches. Maybe men are not conditioned or socialized to express those touchy feelings. They tend to show those feelings — let them come out — through their body,” Kim said.
Kim and her colleagues suggest that their work could offer initial guidance for the recognition and identification of people who might benefit from programs intended to improve coping skills and/or to reduce stress. Specifically, they stated that helping women manage psychological stress might vbe beneficial to the mental and physical health of both partners in dealing with cancer.
In the clinical setting, stated Kim, “We only pay attention to the patient or survivor – try to improve their distress. But beyond focusing on the patient — in addition to treating the survivor’s stress — we need to include or pay attention to caregiving wives. That will impact the patient. It’s indirect care.”
Frank Penedo, an associate professor in the Division of Bio-behavioral Oncology and Cancer Control at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, agreed with the general principles confirmed by this study: “People are starting to understand that some cancers can be seen as a couples’ disease,” stated Penedo.
According to a report in the April isssue of the Annals of Behavioral Medicine, there is correlation between the state of mind of the female member of a couple dealing with cancer and the male member’s health. Clearly this is of some relevance to prostate cancer patients and their spouses/partners. The study investigated 168 couples in which either the woman had breast cancer or the man had prostate cancer, and had received their diagnosis within the 2 years preceding the study surveys.
According to lead author Youngmee Kim, PhD (in a press release from the Center for the Advancement of Health), “We found an interesting pattern. The psychological distress of the female partner seemed to have the greatest effect — whether the woman was the breast cancer survivor or the caregiver of a man with prostate cancer. If the female has higher level of psychological distress, the male partner will have a higher level of psychosomatic problems.”
The study’s results suggested that husbands whose wives are under high stress rarely reported psychological or emotional problems. In other words, a man with a stressed-out wife is likely to report an impact on his physical health, not his emotional well-being.
According to Kim, men don’t acknowledge that the psychological stress associated with cancer diagnosis and treatment is a particular problem. Rather, “They tend to somatize those stresses, reporting headaches, backaches. Maybe men are not conditioned or socialized to express those touchy feelings. They tend to show those feelings — let them come out — through their body,” Kim said.
Kim and her colleagues suggest that their work could offer initial guidance for the recognition and identification of people who might benefit from programs intended to improve coping skills and/or to reduce stress. Specifically, they stated that helping women manage psychological stress might vbe beneficial to the mental and physical health of both partners in dealing with cancer.
In the clinical setting, stated Kim, “We only pay attention to the patient or survivor – try to improve their distress. But beyond focusing on the patient — in addition to treating the survivor’s stress — we need to include or pay attention to caregiving wives. That will impact the patient. It’s indirect care.”
Frank Penedo, an associate professor in the Division of Bio-behavioral Oncology and Cancer Control at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, agreed with the general principles confirmed by this study: “People are starting to understand that some cancers can be seen as a couples’ disease,” stated Penedo.
Filed under: Living with Prostate Cancer, Management