ABSTRACT
Adjustments and anxieties are inevitably created. The passage of life is a procession of adjustments to minor and major events. Sadness and distress invariably occur. Such experiences can initiate psychological growth and maturation. Pathological interpretations of adjustment or distress reactions are rarely therapeutic. Distress and cancer are naturally associated. Adjustment disorder refers to someone who is distressed and ‘not coping’, having recently experienced a stressor, such as a malignant diagnosis, treatment complication or the awareness of impending death. Psychological development, maturation and ‘growth’ can be precipitated by difficult and traumatic events, such as severe medical illness. This phenomenon has long been recognised in philosophy, literature and religion. Some patients consider themselves ‘better persons’ consequent upon this experience. Medication can allow the psychological interventions to be acceptable to the patient and able to be applied with effect. Medication and psychotherapy are complementary. The misnamed antidepressant medications, particularly the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, are the most effective long-term medication for chronic anxiety.
