Treating Cancer One Word at a Time
Written by Sarena Yang
Edited by Michelle Wong
July 31st 2021
Edited by Michelle Wong
July 31st 2021
When most people think about cancer treatments, they may think of chemotherapy, radiation therapy or surgery. However, these physical treatments are only one part of the battle. Society tends to focus a lot of resources on research for curing cancer, but cancer treatment can also improve at the physician to patient level. Sometimes, carefully chosen words can make a difference in healing patients both physically and emotionally.
With the diagnosis of metastatic or advanced cancer, sometimes cancer treatment will be accompanied by ePSC, which stands for early palliative/supportive care. The intention is to focus on what the patient needs in order to improve their quality of life during treatment . Managing pain is a big part of ePSC (Borelli et al., 2021). Pain can be classified in two different ways: physical or social. Social pain is associated with threats to or losses of social connections (Macdonald & Leary, 2005). The expression “total pain” attempts to encompass all aspects of cancer pain. This includes not only physical pain, but also psychosocial pain caused by the disease, treatment and their feelings towards it (Saunders, 1964). Unfortunately, the social aspect of pain is often neglected (Borelli et al., 2021).
Borelli et al. (2021) sought to establish a relationship between the literal meaning or emotional meaning of words and the way pain is perceived. They looked at the difference in the way people felt about physical pain words such as “piercing” and social words such as “resignation”. They noticed that social pain words were perceived significantly more negatively than physical pain words in metastatic or advanced cancer patients. This could mean that social pain may be perceived as more important than physical pain (Borelli et al., 2021).
Language plays a huge role in how patients understand and experience diseases and illnesses. Borelli's study shows how social pain is a large component of pain perception. Word choice has also been shown to improve patient doctor relationships during cancer care and treatment (Borelli et al., 2021). Therefore, being aware of the impact of words on pain and illness perception and practicing careful word choice could make a difference in one’s care.
Works Cited
Borelli E, Bigi S, Potenza L, Artioli F, Eliardo S, Mucciarini C, et al. (2021) Different semantic and affective meaning of the words associated to physical and social pain in cancer patients on early palliative/supportive care and in healthy, pain-free individuals. PLoS ONE 16(3): e0248755. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0248755
MacDonald, G., & Leary, M. R. (2005). Why Does Social Exclusion Hurt? The Relationship Between Social and Physical Pain. Psychological Bulletin, 131(2), 202–223. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.131.2.202
Saunders, Cicely. (1964). Care of Patients Suffering from Terminal Illness at St. Joseph's Hospice, Hackney, London. Nursing Mirror.