The cancer patient’s soul.

Abstract

In general, every cancer patient should have access to psycho-oncological treatment, aiming at helping patients to deal with the difficult situation. The patient’s individual need for treatment can be ascertained by measuring the patient’s degree of distress. The general and individual treatment goal should be to maintain a certain quality of life and to assess and treat serious psychiatric diseases resulting from the cancer diagnosis such as anxiety disorder or depression. Treatment possibilities include: psycho-oncological psychotherapy as depth psychology, supportive, analytic or behavioral psychology, as well as group therapy in terms of support groups, with relatives or without as a mere patient group.