Rational-emotive behavioral intervention helped patients with cancer and their caregivers to manage psychological distress and anxiety symptoms

Abstract

There is a dearth of evidence-based data on how psychological distress and death anxiety symptoms experienced by cancer patients and caregivers are treated in developing regions. This article sheds light on the report of the findings from a 2016 study that revealed a rational-emotive behavioral intervention helped a select group of cancer patients and their family caregivers to manage problematic assumptions, psychological distress, and death anxiety symptoms in Nigeria. Based on my experience as a co-investigator and corresponding author of this previous study, I addressed the challenges of conducting such a study and the implications for future research in this article. This article encourages future researchers to replicate the study and endeavor to overcome the limitations of the previous study. Funders were also encouraged to ensure increased access to funds for conducting similar studies with cancer patients and their family caregivers in developing countries and other parts of the world.

Factors Influencing Anxiety Among WeChat Users During the Early Stages of the COVID-19 Pandemic in Mainland China: Cross-sectional Survey Study

“…People could cope with stressors better and improve their mental health by means of rational-emotive behavioral interventions and cognitive behavioral therapies to reduce anxiety and improve psychological abilities, including emotion regulation and stress management [ 28 , 29 , 63 , 64 ]. The emotion dysregulation model of anxiety suggests that the lack of emotion regulation has a positive correlation with anxiety [ 65 , 66 ].…”

“…A recent study found that hope can contribute to anxiety prevention [27]. The theory of rational emotive behavior therapy indicates that rational beliefs can alleviate symptoms of anxiety and other mental distress [28,29]. Additionally, cognitive behavioral models of health anxiety indicate that negative emotions and misinterpretations of health-related stimuli could increase the chances of developing anxiety [30][31][32][33].…”

Psicoterapia racional-explicativa destinada a la disminución de niveles de ansiedad en pacientes con cáncer tiroideo.

“…La sintomatología de ansiedad, los sentimientos de tensión y de aprensión percibidos por los pacientes debido a la carga emocional , que implica su diagnóstico de malignidad y la cirugía a la cual deben someterse decrecieron en consonancia con el abordaje psicoterapéutico y de psicoeducación realizado (32,33). Los pacientes con cáncer tiroideo reaccionaron positivamente favoreciendo a su estabilidad emocional, a un afrontamiento más asertivo de la enfermedad y a la adherencia al tratamiento médico (34,35).…”

“…Los resultados del presente estudio son similares a estudios anteriores que observaron a la ansiedad como uno de los impactos psicológicos más comunes asociados al cáncer (32). Según Stark et al, los síntomas de ansiedad en estos pacientes son recurrentes, sin embargo hay pocas variables oncológicas que podrían dirigirse a la detección de trastornos de ansiedad (9).…”

Influencing Factors of International Students’ Anxiety Under Online Learning During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Cross-Sectional Study of 1,090 Chinese International Students

“…A recent study found that the hope helps prevent anxiety ( Mirhosseini et al, 2020 ). The theory of rational emotive behavioral therapy suggests that rational beliefs can relieve anxiety and other symptoms of mental distress ( David et al, 2018 ; Eseadi, 2019 ). In addition, cognitive-behavioral models of health anxiety suggest that negative emotions and misunderstanding of health-related stimuli may increase the chance of developing anxiety ( Gautreau et al, 2015 ; Hagger et al, 2017 ; Schäfer et al, 2017 ).…”