Possible Outcome of Spiritually Augmented Cognitive Restructuring Intervention in Cognitive Disturbances among Breast Cancer Patients

Cancer is often a life-threatening disease. In women, breast cancer is the most leading cause of death. The incidence of breast cancer is rising in India and is now the second most common cancer diagnosed in women after cervical cancer. Diagnosis of breast cancer results a variety of cognitive impairments in patients as well as her family. The increasing use of aggressive treatment method works as a catalyst to promote the mal adjustment and reduce the quality of life in cancer patients. Like all chronic illnesses breast cancer also involves series of threats and difficulties, which further lead to the development of mental problems in the patients. To effectively control these mental troubles during conventional cancer treatment without any side effects, a novel non-pharmacological intervention, Spiritually Augmented Cognitive Restructuring (SACR), labeled as SACR has been introduced in this research. SACR, as clear by the name, is a cognitive model to restructure or modify the negative core beliefs of a patient through spiritual teachings or activities. The objective of this research is to theoretically explore the possible efficiency of SACR in the control of mental disturbances with special reference to breast cancer patients. For execution of this purpose some concerned books, published researches and obtained literature after internet search on PubMed, Medline etc. were reviewed. A theoretical foundation explained in such researches or scientific texts was presented in this article. This research article suggests that spirituality in clinical setting may influence the efficacy of cognitive therapy model. Cognitive model with spirituality may be more effective in management of mood disturbances in life threatening disease, at least in breast cancer patients, by improving their spiritual understanding about life. With this study, we are able to introduce a new form of psychological treatment in the field of psycho-oncology.