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Help with sorting out feelings of injustice?

Page last modified on: August 18, 2008
Question from sally: I can't help feeling why me? Then I feel dreadful because I wouldn't wish this on anyone else. How do I start to sort out these feelings?
Answer —David Spiegel, Ph.D.: Well it's inevitable that people will ask themselves that question, and there is a certain injustice in anyone getting cancer and at the same time we are all mortal and something will get us sooner or later.

I am a little concerned that you feel so dreadful about asking the question because it doesn't literally mean that you would wish you illness on anyone else. It is possible to feel a sense of injustice about the cancer without thinking that anyone else deserves it more than you do. I think people get a lot of help in support groups in dealing with exactly those issues, and you are in a room with 8 other women who have exactly the same issues, who have the same illness and ask the same question, and aren't wishing it on one another. I think a good support group could help you deal with that.

On Wednesday, October 18, 2000, our Ask-the-Expert Online Conference was called Feelings about Breast Cancer. David Spiegel, Ph.D. and moderator Marisa Weiss, M.D. answered your questions about the emotional effects of breast cancer diagnosis and treatment.

The materials presented in these conferences do not necessarily reflect the views of breastcancer.org. A qualified healthcare professional should be consulted before using any therapeutic product or regimen discussed. All readers should verify all information and data before employing any therapies described here.

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Meet the Experts

David Spiegel, Ph.D.David Spiegel, Ph.D. is professor and associate chairman of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Stanford University School of Medicine.

Marisa Weiss, M.D. is a radiation oncologist specializing in breast cancer and the founder, president, and guiding force behind Breastcancer.org.

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