Women Worriers
You’d think that men with prostate cancer might worry a lot about their condition. But research shows that it’s actually their female partners who worry the most.
Over the course of a year, researchers at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York surveyed the emotional reactions of nearly 100 men with prostate cancer and their longtime spouses or partners. They found that the women were more concerned than the men about the possibility of recurrence and the men’s prognoses. After 12 months, women worried somewhat less, and the men’s worry levels dropped even more.
Why do female partners tend to worry more? “Spouses or partners may feel they have less control and involvement than the patients, since they aren’t going through the experience themselves,” says lead researcher Michael Diefenbach, PhD, associate professor of urology and oncological sciences at Mount Sinai.
One of the best ways to tame worry, says Dr. Diefenbach, is to make treatment decisions as a couple. That way, he says, “you’re really fighting cancer as a team.”
—Dana Gottesman
Living with Cancer
Update: July 6, 2010
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