"Sometimes people with cancer find that the friends and family they thought they could rely on aren't offering them the support they need..."
"A Canadian study published June 14th in the British Journal of Cancer found that almost 38 percent of its 3,095 participants—who included people with breast, prostate, colorectal and lung cancer—met the criteria for distress levels that should be treated. But almost half of these patients had not sought psychosocial support, primarily because they weren't aware of support services or because they didn't think they needed them."
These excerpts comes from the article The Stress of Cancer: Seeking Support
Alex's comment: This is a good article except that it does not mention acupuncture. Maybe that is why it is referred to as "alternative medicine". If feeling better physically and emotionally is "alternative" than so be it. Stress of all kinds is an important area for people to get great value out of acupuncture, massage and herbal medicine. While acupuncture is generally researched for its results for a particular condition. Perhaps, what is more telling is the patient satisfaction with their acupuncturist and how they feel after an acupuncture session. This is very high. All the therapies of Chinese Medicine improve quality of life. This is also referred to as helping to "balance" the system. Balancing what? Organ imbalances, emotions, stresses, lifestyle factors - all of it.
The individual can be overlooked in the efforts to treat and cure a disease. Why? Because part of the philosophical basis of Chinese Medicine is treating people not diseases. This, at least in my practice creates communications with my patients that encompass all the factors that can influence a problem. This I refer to as treating the root of the problem. This is not always possible but when it happens it is a beautiful thing because the patient is seen in his/her totality and complexity as a feeling human being.
