Within a Family, Prostate Cancer Often Shrouded in Silence
Within a Family, Prostate Cancer Often Shrouded in Silence
May 8, 2001 -- Sometimes it's hard enough for couples to talk about everyday feelings and emotions. When it comes to talking about the feelings and emotions surrounding cancer, it's often even harder. In fact, according to a small study, when dealing with prostate cancer, its treatment, and the resulting side effects, there may be little communication between husbands and wives.
"We found that spouses didn't communicate a whole lot about the implications of prostate cancer," study author Ulrike Boehmer, PhD, tells WebMD. Boehmer is an assistant professor at Boston University's School of Public Health.
In the study, Boehmer and colleague Jack Clark, PhD, set up focus groups with 20 married men (average age, 69) who were part of a larger study, and separate focus groups with seven of their wives to find out how much they shared with each other concerning their feelings about the physical changes and loss of sexuality that often accompany treatment for prostate cancer.
With respect to the physical changes -- including weight gain, loss of body hair, hot flashes, and fatigue -- the researchers found that communication between spouses varied from sharing information to dealing with feelings in complete isolation. In fact, two of the 20 men did not even tell their wives they had prostate cancer.
Some men indicated that they had a hard time adjusting to their physical changes, felt shame and/or embarrassment, and were not comfortable disclosing their feelings. Many of the wives said that verbal exchanges about feelings did not generally occur, and that they did not want to ask questions for fear that they might stir things up in their husbands or create problems that were not there.
Concerning sexuality, most of the communication took place at the time men were presented with treatment options that had impotence as a side effect. After the decision about treatment was made, any discussion about their sex life was effectively discontinued.
In general, the men's inability to have an erection caused them to refrain from any type of sexual activity. Many men told the interviewer that lack of sexual functioning threatened their masculinity, but they stated that this sexual loss seemed to mean little to their wives since they didn't complain. The wives discussed the subject of loss of sexuality by focusing on its effects on their husbands, not disclosing if this loss was important to them.
Within a Family, Prostate Cancer Often Shrouded in Silence
May 8, 2001 -- Sometimes it's hard enough for couples to talk about everyday feelings and emotions. When it comes to talking about the feelings and emotions surrounding cancer, it's often even harder. In fact, according to a small study, when dealing with prostate cancer, its treatment, and the resulting side effects, there may be little communication between husbands and wives.
"We found that spouses didn't communicate a whole lot about the implications of prostate cancer," study author Ulrike Boehmer, PhD, tells WebMD. Boehmer is an assistant professor at Boston University's School of Public Health.
If you need a springboard to communication, try out WebMD's Prostate Cancer: Open Discussion board.
In the study, Boehmer and colleague Jack Clark, PhD, set up focus groups with 20 married men (average age, 69) who were part of a larger study, and separate focus groups with seven of their wives to find out how much they shared with each other concerning their feelings about the physical changes and loss of sexuality that often accompany treatment for prostate cancer.
With respect to the physical changes -- including weight gain, loss of body hair, hot flashes, and fatigue -- the researchers found that communication between spouses varied from sharing information to dealing with feelings in complete isolation. In fact, two of the 20 men did not even tell their wives they had prostate cancer.
Some men indicated that they had a hard time adjusting to their physical changes, felt shame and/or embarrassment, and were not comfortable disclosing their feelings. Many of the wives said that verbal exchanges about feelings did not generally occur, and that they did not want to ask questions for fear that they might stir things up in their husbands or create problems that were not there.
Concerning sexuality, most of the communication took place at the time men were presented with treatment options that had impotence as a side effect. After the decision about treatment was made, any discussion about their sex life was effectively discontinued.
In general, the men's inability to have an erection caused them to refrain from any type of sexual activity. Many men told the interviewer that lack of sexual functioning threatened their masculinity, but they stated that this sexual loss seemed to mean little to their wives since they didn't complain. The wives discussed the subject of loss of sexuality by focusing on its effects on their husbands, not disclosing if this loss was important to them.