Women who have had a Mastectomy need Increased Psycho-social Support

Abstract

The psycho-social adjustment required from a mastectomy patient is an integral part of her rehabilitation process. Failure to realize this is often due to the fact that even in large centres for the treatment of malignant disease there are not enough physicians and social workers who have received sufficient psychological training. For that reason the psycho-social treatment of the psycho-physical trauma of a mastectomy is often not as good as it could be, or the complex learning process which is associated with it sometimes lasts a very long period of time. In either case the patient is left with a considerable mental burden. Would mastectomy patients be helped by regular meetings from a psycho-social point of view? The successes of an organization which has set itself similar objectives for the support of colostomy patients tend to support that view. At the regular meetings of the association, practical questions concerning ileostomy or colostomy are discussed, but the psycho-social aspects also receive attention. Another example of a self-help organization in which psycho-social rehabilitation is the prime objective is ‘Alcoholics Anonymous’. Organizations providing mutual aid for mastectomy patients are found supraregionally in the USA (Reach to Recovery) and in France (Vivre comme Avant).