No Cancer, No Fear: Prevention, Psychological Care, and Healthy Sexual Psychology for Middle-Aged Men with Cancer Fear

Cancer phobia among middle-aged men manifests in various ways: worrying that their current illness will develop into cancer; fearing the same fate after hearing or seeing colleagues, relatives, or friends diagnosed with cancer. Patients with cancer phobia often experience a variety of physical and psychological symptoms, therefore, prevention and treatment require a combined approach of psychological and physical measures. Cancer is indeed a major threat to human health today. Approximately 10 million people are diagnosed with cancer each year, and millions die from it. Because the true causes of cancer are not yet fully understood, and there is a lack of early diagnosis and effective prevention methods, the mortality rate is very high, which is the objective basis for the widespread fear and apprehension surrounding cancer. However, cancer is not a common or prevalent disease. Extensive statistical surveys both domestically and internationally indicate that the incidence of cancer is generally 80-200 per 100,000 people, meaning that only 1-2 out of every 1,000 people are likely to develop cancer. Moreover, thanks to the efforts of scholars and cancer prevention workers both domestically and internationally, and the development of modern medical diagnostic techniques, significant progress has been made in cancer prevention and treatment. Recent surveys have found that the 5-year survival rate (the medical threshold for cancer cure) for dozens of common cancers has exceeded 50%, with the 5-year survival rate for uterine cancer rising from 75% to 84%. Nasopharyngeal carcinoma can be diagnosed early, and radiotherapy is very effective. Early-stage gastric cancer, with timely surgical treatment via gastroscopy, has a survival rate of almost 90%. Therefore, middle-aged men only need to remember one thing: "Treat cancer early if you have it, and don't be afraid if you don't." How to provide psychological care for middle-aged male cancer patients? Cancer is a psychosomatic disease, a fact universally acknowledged. Scholars have long proposed that "psychological factors are the strongest cause of cancer," a conclusion confirmed by recent advances in neuro-endocrine-immune mechanisms. Psychological defense mechanisms are the primary way to eliminate fear of cancer. Once cancer is diagnosed, middle-aged male patients often experience extreme fear, often manifesting as immediate loss of work ability, depression, paranoia, decreased appetite, insomnia, weight loss, and even panic. This intense psychological stress has a significant impact on the occurrence, development, treatment, and postoperative recovery of cancer. Therefore, psychological care for middle-aged male patients is a comprehensive measure for rehabilitation and prevention of relapse. (1) Help patients build confidence in survival and formulate corresponding nursing measures. (2) Show care and consideration for patients in terms of life and emotions, and avoid adverse mental stimulation. (3) Help them adjust their ability to adapt to the environment and make them realize the importance of this ability to get rid of psychological distress. (4) Guide and help patients understand their mental and psychological needs, conduct positive psychological training for patients, eliminate tension, and enhance disease resistance. What is healthy sexual psychology? The World Health Organization (WHO) proposed a new concept of health: "Health is not merely the absence of disease, but also includes mental and social health. That is to say, health is a state of complete mental, physical and social well-being." Healthy sexual psychology is a harmonious unity of biological, social and psychological aspects, and is the sum of a person's physical, emotional, knowledge, belief, behavior and social interactions. A healthy sexual attitude is composed of a positive and sound personality, moral and ethical values, rich and mature social activities, faithful love, a sense of social responsibility, and personal dignity. Importantly, to achieve a healthy sex life, one must have a foundation of reason and stable emotions, suppressing and eliminating negative psychological factors. Even with a certain level of education and refinement, a lack of reason and stable emotions will render such an outcome ineffective. A fulfilling and harmonious sex life and healthy sexual psychology can only be achieved through the guidance of experience, reason, and knowledge. Sexual psychology refers to psychological activities related to sex. Based on age stages, it can be divided into: childhood sexual psychology, adolescent sexual psychology, menopausal sexual psychology, and elderly sexual psychology. Sexual psychology mainly includes two aspects: one is the various psychological processes related to or involving "sex" (perception, memory, imagination, thinking, desire, emotion, impulse, and the choice and decision of will, etc.); the other is sexual psychology related to personality traits, mainly referring to an individual's attitude towards sex, evaluation of sex, and sexual orientation.