Facing Cancer and the Fear of Death: A Psychoanalytic Perspective on Treatment

172 Pages·2012·2.624 MB·English

by  Norman Straker (ed.)

Facing Cancer and the Fear of Death

Facing Cancer and the Fear of Death
A Psychoanalytic Perspective
on Treatment
Edited by Norman Straker, MD
JASONARONSON
Lanham•Boulder •NewYork•Toronto•Plymouth,UK
PublishedbyJasonAronson
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Copyright©2013byNormanStraker
“ThatDarknessIsAbouttoPass,”chapter8,wasfirstpublishedbytheYaleUniversity
Pressin1994,Vol.49ofThePsychoanalyticStudyoftheChildandisincludedhereby
permissionofYaleUniversityPressandThePsychoanalyticStudyoftheChild.
“TheCrushingCostofMedicalCare”reprintedbypermissionofTheWallStreetJournal,
Copyright©2012DowJonesandCompany,Inc.Allrightsreservedworldwide.License
number3002660827659.
Allrightsreserved.Nopartofthisbookmaybereproducedinanyformorbyany
electronicormechanicalmeans,includinginformationstorageandretrievalsystems,
withoutwrittenpermissionfromthepublisher,exceptbyareviewerwhomayquote
passagesinareview.
BritishLibraryCataloguinginPublicationInformationAvailable
LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
Facingcancerandthefearofdeath:apsychoanalyticperspectiveontreatment/editedbyNorman
Straker.
p.;cm.
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
ISBN978-0-7657-0965-3(cloth:alk.paper)—ISBN978-0-7657-0966-0(electronic)
I.Straker,Norman.[DNLM:1.Neoplasms—psychology.2.AttitudetoDeath.3.HealthPersonnel—
psychology.4.Psychoanalysis.5.Survivors—psychology.6.TerminallyIll—psychology.QZ200]
616.99'4—dc23
2012044631
ThepaperusedinthispublicationmeetstheminimumrequirementsofAmerican
NationalStandardforInformationSciencesPermanenceofPaperforPrintedLibrary
Materials,ANSI/NISOZ39.48-1992.
PrintedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica
Contents
Acknowledgments vii
Introduction:FacingCancerandtheFearofDeath:AChallengefor
theTwenty-FirstCentury ix
NormanStraker,MD
I:MedicalSection 1
1 TheAvoidanceofFacingDeath:ItsConsequencestoOur
Patients,Families,MedicalStudents,andYoungPhysicians 3
NormanStraker,MD
2 AFellow’sPerspectiveonFacingDeath 13
DavidP.Yuppa,MD,withNormanStraker,MD
3 ConfrontingtheFearofDeath:TryingtoDetoxifyDeath:Two
Memoirs 21
DanielBirger,MD,HillelSwiller,MD,andNormanStraker,
MD
II:PsychoanalyticSection 35
4 TheDenialoftheFearofDeathbyPsychoanalysts 37
NormanStraker,MD
5 FindingMeaninginDeath:TerrorManagementamongthe
TerminallyIll 41
MollyMaxfield,TomPyszczynski,andSheldonSolomon
6 PsychoanalyticLiteratureontheTreatmentsofDyingPatients 61
NormanStraker,MD
v
vi Contents
7 AnUpdateinthePsychoanalyticTreatmentoftheCancer
PatientFacingDeath 69
NormanStraker,MD
III:CasePresentationsSection 81
8 “...ThatDarknessIsAbouttoPass”:TheTreatmentofa
DyingPatient 83
AbbyAdams-Silvan,PhD
9 GuidelinestoLivebyandRulestoBreak 103
JohnW.Barnhill,MD
10 “TitrationofPsychotherapyforPatientandAnalyst” 115
AlisonC.Phillips,MD
11 PsychotherapywithaHospitalizedPatientDyingofCancer 123
M.PhilipLuber,MD
12 BeingaCancerPatientinAnalysiswhileContinuingtoWorkas
anAnalyst 131
PatriciaPlopa,PhD
Conclusion 147
NormanStraker,MD
Index 151
AbouttheContributors 155
Acknowledgments
My patients were my greatest teachers and it was a great privilege to have
beenchosentosharetheirchallengefacingdeath.Theircourageandwisdom
is the inspiration for this book. They will never be forgotten. Special ac-
knowledgments should begin with Carolyn Straker, my wife who supported
andencouragedmeduringtheentirewritingprocess.Shealsoassistedinthe
editingandproofreadingprocess.
I am especially grateful to the contributors to the book: Abby Adams-
Silvan, John W. Barnhill, Daniel Birger, M. Philip Luber, Molly Maxfield,
AlisonC. Philips,PatriciaPlopa,TomPysczynski,Sheldon Solomon,Hillel
Swiller,andDavidP.Yuppa.
I also wish to acknowledge some dear colleagues and friends who pro-
vided me with critical and valuable feedback. They include Lowell Rubin,
MD, Michael Fleischer, MD, Hillel Swiller, MD, Philip Hahn, Richard M.
Gottleieb, MD, and Leon Hoffman, MD. I am especially indebted to my
mentor, colleague, and friend for over thirty-five years, Jimmie Holland,
MD, Wayne E. Chapman Chair in psycho-oncology at Memorial Sloan-
Kettering,whoguidedmein thestudyandtreatmentof theemotional needs
of cancer patients and their families. William Breitbart, MD, acting chair of
psychiatry and behavioral science at Sloan-Kettering, has also been a great
friend and colleague over many decades. Amy King, acquisitions editor of
Jason Aronson, was the first to recognize the possibility of this book and I
thank her for her foresight. Finally, Stephanie Brooks, assistant editor of
production, and Sandi Frank, who is responsible for the index, have been
veryhelpfultome.
NormanStraker,MD
vii