“Honorable Toward Your Whole Self”: Experiences of the Body in Fatigued Breast Cancer Survivors
IntroductionCancer Related Fatigue (CRF) is one of the most common and detrimental side effects of cancer treatment. Despite its increasing prevalence and severity CRF remains dismissed by the majority of clinicians. One reason for the apparent gap between clinical need and clinical undertaking is t...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2020-07-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Psychology |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.01502/full |
| _version_ | 1818514975509970944 |
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| author | Cooper Penner Cooper Penner Chloe Zimmerman Chloe Zimmerman Chloe Zimmerman Lisa Conboy Lisa Conboy Lisa Conboy Ted Kaptchuk Ted Kaptchuk Catherine Kerr |
| author_facet | Cooper Penner Cooper Penner Chloe Zimmerman Chloe Zimmerman Chloe Zimmerman Lisa Conboy Lisa Conboy Lisa Conboy Ted Kaptchuk Ted Kaptchuk Catherine Kerr |
| author_sort | Cooper Penner |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | IntroductionCancer Related Fatigue (CRF) is one of the most common and detrimental side effects of cancer treatment. Despite its increasing prevalence and severity CRF remains dismissed by the majority of clinicians. One reason for the apparent gap between clinical need and clinical undertaking is the penchant toward reductionist accounts of the disorder: a tendency to discount the interface between the lived experience of sufferers and the multi-dimensional etiology of CRF as it manifests adversely on a day-to-day basis.MethodsIn order to better understand the interplay between social, bodily, and emotional components of the disorder we undertook semi-structured interviews with thirteen Breast Cancer survivors suffering from CRF, and then subsequently analyzed their responses using Team Based Qualitative Analysis.ResultsOur analysis revealed multiple dimensions of the social and bodily underpinnings of fatigue. Most relevantly we found a consistent change in the level and quality of attention to bodily signals. This shift in awareness appeared to be directly connected to the experience of CRF and a newfound, “respect,” for the needs of the body. Furthermore, we found that many of the practices that were described as helpful in alleviating fatigue were oriented around eliciting a sense of embodied awareness, examples being: dance, yoga, and shamanic ritual. This relationship with bodily sensations existed in conjunction with the anxiety and trauma that arose as a result of cancer treatment.ConclusionOur analysis suggests that the quality of awareness and relationship to bodily experience in CRF is a functionally relevant component of the disorder and should be considered as an experiential target moving forward. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-11T00:22:59Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-f599fe78a9eb4225a91c4dd49b2dd559 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1664-1078 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-11T00:22:59Z |
| publishDate | 2020-07-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Psychology |
| spelling | doaj.art-f599fe78a9eb4225a91c4dd49b2dd5592022-12-22T01:27:41ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Psychology1664-10782020-07-011110.3389/fpsyg.2020.01502520960“Honorable Toward Your Whole Self”: Experiences of the Body in Fatigued Breast Cancer SurvivorsCooper Penner0Cooper Penner1Chloe Zimmerman2Chloe Zimmerman3Chloe Zimmerman4Lisa Conboy5Lisa Conboy6Lisa Conboy7Ted Kaptchuk8Ted Kaptchuk9Catherine Kerr10Department of Neuroscience, Brown University, Providence, RI, United StatesDepartment of Neurosurgery, Cedars Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA, United StatesDepartment of Neuroscience, Brown University, Providence, RI, United StatesWarren Alpert Medical School, Brown University, Providence, RI, United StatesBeth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United StatesWarren Alpert Medical School, Brown University, Providence, RI, United StatesBeth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United StatesNew England School of Acupuncture, Newton, MA, United StatesWarren Alpert Medical School, Brown University, Providence, RI, United StatesBeth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United StatesDepartment of Contemplative Studies, Brown University, Providence, RI, United StatesIntroductionCancer Related Fatigue (CRF) is one of the most common and detrimental side effects of cancer treatment. Despite its increasing prevalence and severity CRF remains dismissed by the majority of clinicians. One reason for the apparent gap between clinical need and clinical undertaking is the penchant toward reductionist accounts of the disorder: a tendency to discount the interface between the lived experience of sufferers and the multi-dimensional etiology of CRF as it manifests adversely on a day-to-day basis.MethodsIn order to better understand the interplay between social, bodily, and emotional components of the disorder we undertook semi-structured interviews with thirteen Breast Cancer survivors suffering from CRF, and then subsequently analyzed their responses using Team Based Qualitative Analysis.ResultsOur analysis revealed multiple dimensions of the social and bodily underpinnings of fatigue. Most relevantly we found a consistent change in the level and quality of attention to bodily signals. This shift in awareness appeared to be directly connected to the experience of CRF and a newfound, “respect,” for the needs of the body. Furthermore, we found that many of the practices that were described as helpful in alleviating fatigue were oriented around eliciting a sense of embodied awareness, examples being: dance, yoga, and shamanic ritual. This relationship with bodily sensations existed in conjunction with the anxiety and trauma that arose as a result of cancer treatment.ConclusionOur analysis suggests that the quality of awareness and relationship to bodily experience in CRF is a functionally relevant component of the disorder and should be considered as an experiential target moving forward.https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.01502/fulltheories of embodimentinteroceptive awarenesscancer related fatiguepatient centered careteam based qualitative analysis |
| spellingShingle | Cooper Penner Cooper Penner Chloe Zimmerman Chloe Zimmerman Chloe Zimmerman Lisa Conboy Lisa Conboy Lisa Conboy Ted Kaptchuk Ted Kaptchuk Catherine Kerr “Honorable Toward Your Whole Self”: Experiences of the Body in Fatigued Breast Cancer Survivors Frontiers in Psychology theories of embodiment interoceptive awareness cancer related fatigue patient centered care team based qualitative analysis |
| title | “Honorable Toward Your Whole Self”: Experiences of the Body in Fatigued Breast Cancer Survivors |
| title_full | “Honorable Toward Your Whole Self”: Experiences of the Body in Fatigued Breast Cancer Survivors |
| title_fullStr | “Honorable Toward Your Whole Self”: Experiences of the Body in Fatigued Breast Cancer Survivors |
| title_full_unstemmed | “Honorable Toward Your Whole Self”: Experiences of the Body in Fatigued Breast Cancer Survivors |
| title_short | “Honorable Toward Your Whole Self”: Experiences of the Body in Fatigued Breast Cancer Survivors |
| title_sort | honorable toward your whole self experiences of the body in fatigued breast cancer survivors |
| topic | theories of embodiment interoceptive awareness cancer related fatigue patient centered care team based qualitative analysis |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.01502/full |
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