Mental Health and Cancer: Useful coping strategies

Mental health is a large concern for families with children facing cancer. Psychological therapy options play a significant role in a child’s recovery from procedures like surgery and chemotherapy, and help to keep the child, as well as their families going. A few of these options are available at many hospitals as support care in the form of psychology, child-life, art therapy, music therapy, specialists and professionals.

Child psychologists are often present at hospitals and can look over a patient’s overall psychological well being. They are available to assess and diagnose potential issues with depression or other disorders that can come with their condition and to address cognitive function, and are also there to help kids—and sometimes parents— work out issues, and to keep in control of their various tasks. They can help patients cope with their conditions, and can manage pain, treatments, and side effects, as well as administering rehabilitation, supporting families and their internal relationships, and can also test a child academically. Psychological tests can also be administered by these kinds of staff in order to understand what a child best needs as support in trying times such as those spent in the hospital. Counselors can also be assigned in this field to simply help work out internal issues.

Child life specialists aid in and center around working with kids and talking to them about the things they are going through, while having an end goal of maintaining stability in their lives. They are there to carry out tasks such as explaining procedures, reduce stress by demonstrating coping techniques, act as a support system, and to work on kids’ developmental milestones, especially at a young age. These goals are often achieved through therapeutic and medical play. Therapeutic play is used to help patients express themselves and their anxiety and to reduce stress. Medical play is generally used as a method of demonstrating surgeries and getting rid of the fear that surrounds them, and developmental play gives children opportunities of interaction with others, as well as a necessary outlet to achieve developmental milestones.

Art and music therapy both provide children an outlet. Art allows them to express themselves, while music has many beneficial events on the outcomes of treatments. Art therapists are able to recognize mental patterns and internal symbolism within each kid’s methods of expressions and artworks, allowing them a view of where each patient is at mentally, which may not be available to normal psychologists. Music therapy, on the other hand, is effective in physical rehabilitation and facilitating movement, increasing motivation to become more engaged in treatment, providing emotional support for patients and families, and providing an outlet for expression of feelings. It increases levels of dopamine and melatonin in the body, which is scientific proof that it helps the kids be relaxed and happier.

These specialists are available at numerous hospitals, and can be requested via each patient’s care team. A child’s cancer diagnosis is difficult to get through, but these resources, and resources targeted to making this journey easier mentally can be extremely beneficial to both parents and the patient.

It is important to note that the costs for each of these forms of treatment differ based on the specialists and hospital visited, each patient’s insurance, the number of treatments, and the overall extent of aid provided. Generally, hospitals provide itemized bills and costs for treatments ahead of time, so this is an important factor to pay heed to before starting many treatments.

In addition, as each of these specialists obviously have different roles, they all most likely will not be needed for your child. Mental stimulation given to children by child life specialists may not be necessary for a child who is already taking classes or doing art or music therapy, which is a great option for younger children who may be better suited to fun environments with activities, as opposed to a session of just speaking with a psychologist.

Sources:

https://together.stjude.org/en-us/care-support/psychology/mental-health.html#sectioned_content-9a6631fb-26d0-4c7b-9832-a30fba0a56e0=0

https://together.stjude.org/en-us/care-support/psychology.html

https://together.stjude.org/en-us/about-pediatric-cancer/care-team/child-life.html

https://together.stjude.org/en-us/care-support/complementary-therapies/music-therapy.html

https://together.stjude.org/en-us/care-support/complementary-therapies/art-therapy.html