Date: July 15, 2024
Reviewed and edited by David Halpern
Key takeaways: A mesothelioma diagnosis can often bring hurt, confusion, and a complex array of emotions for patients and their loved ones. Support groups—whether large or small scale, virtual or local—can help all involved in a mesothelioma diagnosis by way of emotional support, community-building, assembling mental and clinical “toolkits,” and providing hope.
Mesothelioma support groups
For patients grappling with a mesothelioma diagnosis, their loved ones and families, or their caregivers, support groups are an excellent way to process and emotionally audit their experiences. Because a mesothelioma diagnosis usually occurs when the cancer is advanced, there are a multitude of mental, physical, spiritual, and emotional needs that change upon receiving a diagnosis. Patients may find themselves confused, lost, hurt, or uncomfortable. Additionally, they may elect to receive treatment that could change their physical or emotional capacities, and these changed capacities can contribute to the patient’s already complex mental schemas. And, because mesothelioma is causally related to asbestos exposure, patients and loved ones may also feel anger that employers or companies knowingly exposed them to asbestos. This certainly isn’t an exhaustive list of the feelings associated with a mesothelioma diagnosis, but it depicts only a few of the ways that a mesothelioma diagnosis might change you or your loved ones’ lives. A support group can help a.) place these feelings into the context of the situation; b.) you healthily navigate said feelings; and c.) connect you with people in similar situations.
Depending on the type of support you or your loved ones may need, there are different groups for different needs. Some groups work with survivors, or people that are in remission/periods of stability—these groups might focus on activism, securing justice, and reacclimating to everyday life. Other groups might work with patients actively receiving treatment; these groups might focus on healthy coping strategies, ways to mitigate uncomfortable symptoms or pain, building community, or compiling resources for treatments and new clinical trials. Still other groups might appeal to loved ones of mesothelioma patients, in which they might discuss caretaking strategies and managing distinct emotional burdens. There are support groups available for all impacted by a mesothelioma diagnosis.
Joining a group
You can find groups through websites, like the American Cancer Society, through local non-profits, or even your hospital/site of care. Depending on the scale you want your support network to be—national, virtual, local, or even hospital-specific—you can find a group that will meet your needs.
Benefits of joining a group
The benefits of joining a support group will be unique to your situation; however, you might expect to find:
- Comfort in community
- Learning strategies for navigating complex treatment
- Making new friends
- Learning how to focus on mental health
- Access to resources about clinical trials and novel treatments
- Hope
- Cultivated resiliency
- Peer-facilitated support
If you or a loved one has been diagnosed with mesothelioma or another asbestos-related disease, please call The Halpern Law Firm at 1 (800) 505 – 6000. We are here to help you navigate the legal process just like we have helped many others. Do not hesitate to contact us today.
Sources:
https://csn.cancer.org/categories
https://www.cancer.org/cancer/types/malignant-mesothelioma/if-you-have-malignant-mesothelioma.html
