Person Health and Well Being

Question: Discuss the emotional, mental, and behavioral responses that Mary is likely to experience about her diagnosis. Answer: Introduction Currently, breast cancer is among the worlds most deadly diseases more so when it is not diagnosed in the early stages. Within the last decade, it has claimed several lives. Breast cancer affects the breast tissues, and if not treated early, the disease kills. Mostly, it affects senior women but on some few occasions, young women may be affected by the condition (Holick et al. 2008). Mary who is married to a soldier is diagnosed with breast cancer. Like any other person, being diagnosed with such life-threatening disease, she is bound to experience emotional, cognitive and behavioural responses. However, it is important to understand the risk factors for breast cancer and the preventive factors. Risk Factors for Breast Cancer There are some predisposing factors for breast cancer. Among them is them is just being women. Breast cancer affects only women, and thus any woman is at risk of being affected by the disease (Yang et al. 2011). Another important risk factor is age. As the age increases, the risk of breast cancer consequently increases. Family history is also another risk factor. Women with relatives already diagnosed with cancer are at a higher risk of breast cancer. Genetics also acts as a risk factor. It is thought to contribute between 5% and 10% of the breast cancer cases. Other risk factors include obesity, lack of routine exercises, exposure to radiations, eating unhealthy foods and exposure to chemicals in cosmetics. Preventive Factors for Breast Cancer Some factors can help in preventing the risk of breast cancer. One of them is avoiding exposure to radiations and chemical substances that may cause cancer. Childbearing also is thought to be the strongest preventive measures against breast cancer. The higher the number of children a woman bears, the higher the prevention of the disease she builds (Lappe et al. 2007). Similarly, childbearing and breastfeeding help in reducing the development of breast cancer. Women who breastfeed their kids for more than twelve months prevent the occurrence of breast cancer by a great degree. Lappe et al. (2007) argue that Vitamin D and calcium supplements reduce risks of breast cancer. Also, exercise plays a key role in preventing the development of cancer. Women who exercise routinely are least affected by breast cancer. After the diagnosis and the fact that Mary is alone at home, she is going to respond to the heartbreaking news. Her response will both affect her emotions, cognitive state and behavior. Therefore, this paper aims at discussing her responses under the three main themes. Support system sometimes aids a patient responds to breast cancer diagnosis. If she has proper support from her close relatives like their husbands, the emotional reaction might not be severe. For the case of Mary, she is alone with her two twins. Obviously, she received the sad news with shock and disbelief. Having in mind that her twins are still young, the situation is distressing for her. She is might her felt like her life has come to an expected end. Even before she gets the results from the pathologist, waiting for the unknown biopsy results raises anxiety (Ferlay et al. 2010). Then come the announcement of the results. This is the period full of distress mixed up with anxiety, shock, anger and even at times depression. Before Mary adjusts to the reality that indeed she is diagnosed with breast cancer, she lives in a state of persistent sadness. What follows is decreased interest in several things that in normal occasion used to fascinates her. For instance, if watching televi sion programs has been her favourite she will opt to stay away. Gloom will persist on her face. Distress will go ahead to affecting her lifestyle. Sleep will become a great problem for her. She will start experiencing a state of persistent insomnia (Page et al. 2008). Emotional reactions are normally unhealthy and may contribute to other health problems. Mary may start to waste away so fast due to persistent stress, which leads to lack of sleep and lack of appetite. Emotions are very harmful. They result in irritability and restlessness. Even though she will come to terms with the condition, later on, she would have suffered a lot through emotional torments. Mary also portrays some cognitive response to the diagnosis. Cognitive responses to the results are evident in the way her mental state works. Such news tends to affect how an individual thinks, process information, and retain information. She starts acting weirdly. Cancer is mostly associated with Post Traumatic disorders (PTSD) and Post Traumatic Stress Symptoms (Mehnert, Koch, 2007). When distress, depression and anxiety increases, it results in life-threatening trauma. Such trauma tends to interfere with the working of the brain. It results from the fact that people diagnosed with such illness including Mary think as though their life is ending. Losing life in such a state brings extreme fear and anxiety (Cardenal et al. 2008). Unlike any other disease, cancer patients experiences guilt, the feeling of loss of control overwhelms them, confusions and sadness fills their life mostly when the illness becomes chronic. Mary like any other cancer patient is bound to experience similar effects. Thus as a cancer patient experiencing PTSD, Mary will suffer a lot of cognitive problems. She will have a big challenge in concentrating, mental disorientation, loss of memory, the problem in understanding and difficulty in reasoning and making a judgment. Apart from emotional responses and cognitive response that Mary suffers after the diagnosis, she is bound to portray some behavioural changes. Her behaviour will suddenly become queer. One of the most evident behavioural responses is the mood swings (Watson, Kissane 2011). Her moods will change anytime. At one moment she is happy and the next she is sad and sorrowful. About mood swings, Mary might also suffer from intense anger that in most cases make her cry uncontrollably. Thinking of breast cancer as one of the life terminating illness, cause such anger prompting her to weep profusely. In worst scenarios, Mary may start acting irrational. It is enhanced by the feeling of knowing that her life is in danger and she begins to act in a caring less manner. In addition to that, she may also portray anti-social behaviour (Bower, 2008). She will hardly associate with other people and spend most of the time on her own. Thus, breast cancer diagnosis severely affects Marys behaviour leading to extreme changes in her character. She becomes less associative and becomes disinterested in several things. Therefore, after the diagnosis, Mary experiences several effects in her life. She thus responds to them in three ways. One kind of response is observable in her emotions. This occurs immediately she receives the results. She feels shocked, depressed, anxious and fearful. In addition, Mary suffers cognitive problems, and she starts having problems with her memory like difficulty in concentrating, reasoning and making judgments (Testa et al. 2013). Lastly, her behavior is affected. She begins experiencing mood swings, being anti-social and having irrational behaviors. References Lappe, J. M., Travers-Gustafson, D., Davies, K. M., Recker, R. R., Heaney, R. P. (2007). Vitamin D and calcium supplementation reduce cancer risk: results of a randomised trial. 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