Biomaterial Database

Informing cancer patient in relation to his type of personality: the emotional-hyperthymic (dramatizing) patient. 2011

G Kallergis

Department of Mental Health and Behavioral Sciences, School of Health, University of Athens, Athens, Greece. gkallerg@nurs.uoa.gr

Informing a cancer patient has been an issue of particular interest to the scientific community over the last 50 years. Since 1989 we have been studying the characters or personality types based on the Kahana and Bibring's approach as part of Consultation-Liaison (C-L) Psychiatry. The question posed was how these characters or personality types could be useful in the process of informing the cancer patient. The aim of this paper was to describe the emotional-hyperthymic character or type of personality thoroughly, so that any physician can make a diagnosis and tailor the information strategy to the patient's needs. The qualitative method of research through groups with doctors and nurses was used, while the research within groups lasted for 5 years. The degree of patients' denial varied between "large" and "very large" and sometimes was "medium". Initially, the degree of information was "minimal", then "small" until it reached "medium". A discordance was evident between what the patient showed and what the family reported about him. The patient presented himself as courageous and extrovert, but the relatives considered him as faint-hearted.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D008297	Male		Males
D009369	Neoplasms	New abnormal growth of tissue. Malignant neoplasms show a greater degree of anaplasia and have the properties of invasion and metastasis, compared to benign neoplasms.	Benign Neoplasm,Cancer,Malignant Neoplasm,Tumor,Tumors,Benign Neoplasms,Malignancy,Malignant Neoplasms,Neoplasia,Neoplasm,Neoplasms, Benign,Cancers,Malignancies,Neoplasias,Neoplasm, Benign,Neoplasm, Malignant,Neoplasms, Malignant
D010551	Personality	Behavior-response patterns that characterize the individual.	Personalities
D010817	Physician-Patient Relations	The interactions between physician and patient.	Doctor-Patient Relations,Doctor Patient Relations,Physician Patient Relations,Physician Patient Relationship,Doctor Patient Relation,Doctor-Patient Relation,Physician Patient Relation,Physician Patient Relationships,Physician-Patient Relation,Relation, Doctor Patient,Relation, Doctor-Patient,Relation, Physician Patient,Relation, Physician-Patient,Relations, Doctor Patient,Relations, Doctor-Patient,Relations, Physician Patient,Relations, Physician-Patient,Relationship, Physician Patient,Relationships, Physician Patient
D003142	Communication	The exchange or transmission of ideas, attitudes, or beliefs between individuals or groups.	Miscommunication,Misinformation,Social Communication,Communication Programs,Communications Personnel,Personal Communication,Communication Program,Communication, Personal,Communication, Social,Communications, Social,Miscommunications,Misinformations,Personnel, Communications,Program, Communication,Programs, Communication,Social Communications
D005260	Female		Females
D006801	Humans	Members of the species Homo sapiens.	Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D012737	Sex Factors	Maleness or femaleness as a constituent element or influence contributing to the production of a result. It may be applicable to the cause or effect of a circumstance. It is used with human or animal concepts but should be differentiated from SEX CHARACTERISTICS, anatomical or physiological manifestations of sex, and from SEX DISTRIBUTION, the number of males and females in given circumstances.	Factor, Sex,Factors, Sex,Sex Factor
D014342	Truth Disclosure	Truthful revelation of information, specifically when the information disclosed is likely to be psychologically painful ("bad news") to the recipient (e.g., revelation to a patient or a patient's family of the patient's DIAGNOSIS or PROGNOSIS) or embarrassing to the teller (e.g., revelation of medical errors).	Disclosure, Truth,Disclosure, Error,Disclosures, Error,Disclosures, Truth,Error Disclosure,Error Disclosures,Truth Disclosures