| Abstract: | Maintains that professional and lay approaches toward breast cancer patients often focus on describing ways in which women should respond and adjust to the disease and its treatments. Because these attitudes tend to stress either the tremendous emotional effects that women should experience or the ways in which women should cope, adopting either approach to excess is considered a disservice to women. It is suggested that psychologists be aware of both the common reactions to the stresses of mastectomy and the abilities of women to cope with these stresses. Strategies that promote increased sense of self-control for the patient are advocated. (33 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved) |
