Determination of Mindfulness, Death Anxiety, and Grief in a Patient with Metastatic Cancer
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.9734/bpi/rdmmr/v9/4366FKeywords:
Mindfulness, mindfulness-based interventions, cancer, breast cancer, death anxiety, loss and grief, death and dying, mindfulness and seen or expressed --- that lay concealed, dormant in the underbrush of a patient’s consciousnessAbstract
The objectives of this study were to explore the effectiveness of a modified mindfulness intervention on the following factors: death anxiety, loss and grief symptoms in a cancer patient. Specifically, while abundant literature exists as to the benefits of mindfulness-based interventions with cancer patients, few mindfulness interventions have been conducted about death and dying factors such as death anxiety, grieving and loss. This is a case report of a modified mindfulness intervention initiated as an urgent request for a hospitalized female patient with metastatic, rapidly advancing breast cancer. Scores for death anxiety, loss and grief symptoms were obtained during the seven-week intervention. Objective and subjective reports indicated improvement in death anxiety, while findings were mixed on loss and grief factors.
