OVERVIEW
Assumption: Empirical data suggests, that Traumatic Life Events and Specific Emotional Conflict Themes are always present before the onset of breast cancer and therefore a causative factor.
Goal: The research goal is to detect the presence of Specific Traumatic Life Event and Specific Emotional Conflict Themes linked to breast cancer and to find the behavioural factors or coping skills that determine, why subjects in a control group did not develop breast cancer.
Impact: If Traumatic Life Events are "triggers" for breast cancer, then the consequence will be a shift from symptomatic, bio-mechanical diagnosis and treatment towards biopsychosocial prevention, diagnosis and therapy.
Status: This project is currently in development. The budget for the complete 2-year project is estimated at $ 278,270. The first research stage includes development, planning and will prepare for the actual research being administered.
The required budget for the 1. development stage is $ 25,000.
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as of 10/20/2006
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ABSTRACT
Titel:
Discovering Specific Traumatic Life Events and Underlying Emotional Conflict Themes and their Effect on the Causation of Breast Cancer
Background:
Ancient as well as modern literature suggests that health and illness is a process affected by human behaviour and external life-circumstances. Furthermore, a well documented and agreed conclusion of psychological and behavioural science is the fact that Traumatic Life Events and stress exact a toll on the body as well as the mind. Yet, virtually no research has been done to find out if Specific Traumatic Life Events and Specific Emotional Conflict Themes affect
the onset of cancerous cell growth.
Objective/Hypothesis:
We hypothesize, that a Specific Emotional Conflict Theme (SECT) triggered by a Specific Traumatic Life Event (STLE) is a causative factor for breast
cancer.
Specific Aims:
(1) To detect the presence of STLEs before the onset of breast cancer symptoms,
(2) To detect the presence of SECTs associated with the STLEs,
(3) To elicit the SECTs linked to breast cancer, and
(4) To find the behavioural factors that determine, why subjects in a control group, who also experienced said STLEs and SECTs, did not develop breast cancer.
Impact:
By detecting the coping skills and sense of coherence through our control group and the direct link to breast cancer, our research could transform current cancer-fighting biomedical therapy methods into preserving, integrative therapy methods addressing the improvement of behavioural coping skills and enhancement of Quality of Life (QOL). In addition, the huge burden of PTSS after a breast cancer diagnosis could be alleviated since a sense of coherence and control in subject's consciousness could be established.
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