Expressing Distress in Patients with Advanced Cancer
Expressing Distress in Patients with Advanced Cancer

Summary/Abstract: Negative emotions (distress) are recognized as part of the psychological profile of patients diagnosed with advanced stage cancer. However, most patients are not accustomed to verbalize feelings towards their physician, and generally towards family and medical care personnel. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the expression of emotions by patients in advanced stages of cancer, respectively the means by which they get to express emotions. To this respect, we identified the most common types of emotions expressed, or metaphors used by patients to describe their emotions and topics that trigger emotions. Words and phrases most commonly used are in relation to: fear, anxiety, depression, guilt, negligence, concern. They are uttered in order to depict the network created between disclosed emotions and topics on health status, symptoms, adverse effects and therapeutic choice, patient privacy, and social and family issues.

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