Covid-19
The Covid-19 pandemic has changed our lives immeasurably with significant effects on our relationships with relatives and friends as well as with ourselves. The following link may be helpful to you as you struggle with what is going on in your own lives, and try to decide how to proceed. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/psychological-trauma-coping-and-resilience
SUPPORTING CANCER SURVIVORS
Lending support to cancer patients increases their chances of survival. That is the important message for cancer patients, their families, and friends that has emerged from a study involving 4,691 cancer patients who underwent chemotherapy. Among those cancer patients who survived cancer for at least 5 years after completing the treatment, engaging in regular social interaction boosted their further survival by two percent. From a medical standpoint, researchers believe that engaging with visitors helps reduce cancer survivors’ levels of stress hormones. An excessive buildup of hormones such as adrenaline may lower their chances of survival. From a psychological standpoint, providing much-needed support to cancer survivors helps reinvigorate their lives with a heavy dose of love.
Consequently, the support of a licensed psychologist-psychoanalyst can potentially help a cancer survivor to live a longer and healthier post-cancer life. I can offer you support and guidance as you find the strength within yourself to move beyond the past and embrace the future with renewed excitement and vitality. Please call me at 212-877-7282 to schedule a consultation. My office is at 2373 Broadway, Suite 1421, between West 86th & 87th Streets in Manhattan, with a second location in Morristown, NJ, at 51 South Street, 973-540-9894.
P.S. Keeping a friend company during chemotherapy is probably more likely to reduce his or her stress than interacting with other cancer patients.