Date post: | 15-Jul-2015 |
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Health & Medicine |
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Coping with Cancer:If Cancer is a Gift,
What’s the Return Policy?
Mindy Greenstein, Ph.D.
(and what does it mean to have a good attitude, anyway?)
Positives of my Cancer
• New appreciation of the people in my life
• Psycho-oncology education
• Prodded me to write and publish
• Made me less fearful of non-health related issues
• Body improvement
Don’t Forget the Simple Stuff!
– Good friends to listen or distract
– Good conversation
– People you trust who’ve been there and done that
(unless you’d prefer not to know too much)
– Relaxation breathing
– Exercise
– Books, movies, theatre, museums — whatever art forms appeal to you most
– Doing things that are fun
– Doing things that give you a sense of purpose
Different Coping Styles
• Realism vs. Denial of bad outcomes
• Power of Positive Thinking
• Defensive Pessimism
• Humor
Meaning
He who has a why to live for can bear with almost any how.
-Friedrich Nietzsche
(quoted in Frankl, Man’s Search
for Meaning)
Meaning
• Feeling connected to the world• Feeling like part of a larger whole• Responsible to that world • Goals and tasks to fulfill• Can bring a sense of fulfillment and
peace
Routes to Meaning
• Work
• Causes you believe in and advocate for
• Creative pursuits
• Beauty
• Relationships
• How we deal with suffering that’s unavoidable
Meaning
• Moments when life has felt particularly meaningful– something that helped get you through a
difficult day,– or a time when you felt most alive.
• Is there a pattern to what experiences have been most meaningful?
• Are they still meaningful?
ChemoWorthy TelevisionCOMEDY
Arrested DevelopmentBlackadder Series (especially 2 and 3)The IT CrowdFreaks and Geeks Jane the VirginBrooklyn Nine Nine Mozart in the Jungle (Amazon Prime instant video)The Office (both British and American versions)WeedsNurse Jackie30 Rock Dr. Horrible's Singalong BlogCoupling (British version)The Larry Sanders ShowLouie
DRAMA
Orphan Black Justified Borgen (Danish)Spiral (French)Deadwood HomelandSrugim (Israeli)EnlightenedThe Top of the Lake True DetectiveDownton AbbeyBattlestar Galactica (2004-2009)The Sopranos Firefly Prime Suspect 1 - 7 (British)Homicide: Life on the StreetsFriday Night Lights
Some Resources
Relaxation
The Relaxation Response
by Herbert Benson, M.D.
Morrow, 1975/2000
www.relaxationresponse.org
Some Resources
Mindfulness
The Miracle of Mindfulness, by Thich Nhat Hanh, Translated by Mobi Ho (Beacon, 1999)
Full Catastrophe Living: Using the Wisdom of Your Body and Mind to Face Stress, Pain, and Illness by Jon Kabat-Zinn, Ph.D. (Delta, 1990)
Guided Mindfulness Meditation, audio cd by Jon Kabat-Zinn.
Smartphone apps for relaxation and mindfulness training.