emotional health Archives

Is Overprotective Parenting Linked to Anxiety and Depression?

Posted on January 30, 2018 by Kelly Zorzi

#BellLetsTalk #mentalhealthawareness

Ms. Amanda Sherman, BA, MA, PhD(c), discusses her POGO-funded research study.

Your study looked at overprotective and overcontrolling parenting. Can you give us some examples of these two parenting styles?
I would define overprotection as a style of parenting that does not allow the child or emerging adult to experience stressful things. These parents might try to reduce harm even where the situation doesn’t require it. An overprotective parent might call their child’s friends to solve a problem or insist on driving them to destinations where they can easily walk or ride a bike. It is excessive care. Overcontrolling parenting has more to do with discipline and getting a child to behave in a specific way. A parent might say, “You can’t go out tonight because I don’t like some of your friends.” It is excessive control.

What is non-productive coping?
Coping strategies that are not effective in helping that person feel better (worrying, swearing,
avoidance and isolation, for example) are nonproductive because they may lead to more distress and anxiety. In children, one correlate of the development of anxiety disorders is overprotective parenting.

Are childhood cancer survivors more at risk for depression and anxiety?
When looking at levels of depression, we did not find that our sample differed significantly from normative populations; but we did find that anxiety levels were markedly higher than the general population—participants’ scores on our questionnaire were within one standard deviation from the mean score of people with anxiety disorders. That was surprising to me and something we don’t yet know how to account for. Maybe for this population so much of their childhood was focused on getting better, that learning to cope with stress was less important than getting by and managing their illness. Now they are emerging adults and they are facing the potential late effects of their childhood disease, as well as regular life stresses, and perhaps they are less equipped to cope. These are hard questions to answer.

Amanda Sherman, BA, MA, PhD(c)

Ms. Amanda Sherman, BA, MA, PhD(c) was the recipient of the 2013 POGO Fellowship Award. Her research focused on maternal overprotection/overcontrol and its relationship to coping strategies, anxiety and depression in survivors of childhood cancer. Her study looked at 109 survivors aged 18-30 attending the POGO AfterCare Clinic at Princess Margaret Cancer Centre. POGO AfterCare Clinics monitor survivors at regular intervals so that potential long-term effects of treatment can be identified as early as possible.

You are doing your PhD in psychology. How did your career path lead you to study childhood cancer patients?
I did a practicum placement with Norma D’Agostino at Princess Margaret, where I was doing therapy exclusively with young adult survivors of childhood cancer. We noticed that problems with lack of autonomy, separating from parents and non-productive coping strategies kept coming up.

What can we take away from this research?
Now that we have this evidence that says overprotective parenting and anxiety are an issue in this population, we can target those parents and teach them how to socialize coping in their children. Even the oncologist can spend five minutes asking the parents and children a few targeted questions to
determine if there is a bigger issue, flag it, and refer the family to a psychologist to help them develop better coping skills.

What do you hope will come from your study?
This is preliminary research but even posing the question is opening doors and people are looking for potential issues when perhaps they weren’t looking for them before. Next steps from a research standpoint: our measure of overprotective and overcontrolling parenting needs to be validated and the study needs to be replicated with a non-cancer control group. I want to disseminate this research any way I can.

What does this POGO Fellowship Award do for your career?
This grant has allowed me to have time, space and community to do research. What I have enjoyed so much about POGO is how open minded everyone is about psychosocial issues, and psychosocial development. It has been nice to be accepted and encouraged for studying these kinds of issues, and working with medical professionals has helped provide a different perspective. It has been humbling, rewarding and encouraging at the same time.

A Call from Greatness by Jamie Irvine

Posted on April 21, 2017 by Kelly Zorzi

In the spirit of playoff season, I want to share my little brush with hockey fame when I was going through cancer treatment at just 11 years old.

When I was six years old, my family moved from Saudi Arabia back to Canada. Coming from the desert, I had never experienced winter before, let alone this otherworldly-like game called hockey. I was immediately hooked.

I had great dreams of one day joining the NHL myself, dreams that were quickly dashed after my first attempts at learning to skate resulted in such highlights as me crashing into walls while trying to stop and throwing up after drinking too much hot chocolate. Soon my passion focused on collecting hockey cards and watching the game on TV. It was my personal goal to collect every card or watch every game that even mentioned Wayne Gretzky.

When I was 10 years old, I was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia. To say that my early days of treatment were difficult would be a gross understatement. In truth I was defeated and had given up hope. Then one day, out of the blue, I received a call to my hospital room.

“Is this Jamie Irvine?” said the male voice on the other end of the phone.
“Yes,” I said.
“This is Wayne Gretzky.”

And so the conversation began, lasting between 5-10 minutes, but honestly everything is a blur after he said his name. I was in pure euphoria.

A few weeks passed and I received a care package in the mail from Wayne himself. It was full of signed pictures and various other goodies. All of which I still treasure to this day.

Pretty cool story, right? Well it doesn’t end there. A few years later, my family had moved to Newmarket, Ontario, and I had just finished an experimental treatment and was given the all clear. I attended Camp Oochigeas that summer and met a man named Gordon (Gordo) MacKay. He happened to share my passion for all things Gretzky and after I told him my story, he revealed that he had helped design Wayne Gretzky’s restaurant in Toronto. He invited my family to a free meal at the restaurant and I was shown the “secret” storage room full of Gretzky memorabilia. Gordo let me try on some of the Gretzky jerseys and gloves while my brother got to try on some of Michael Jordan’s game worn shoes. Fun fact: Wayne Gretzky and Michael Jordan would occasionally exchange skates and shoes.

For me, Gretzky’s title “The Great One” goes beyond his hockey record. He was willing to reach out to a sick child who was feeling defeated and offer the support only a hero like him could provide. And for that, I am forever grateful.

To this day, Wayne Gretzky remains my favourite player of all time and my passion for hockey has not waned. Of course, these days I cheer for our home team.

#GoLeafsGo!

Still Standing by Jamie Irvine

Posted on January 20, 2017 by Kelly Zorzi

Jamie holding one of his TWO diplomas with honours

#BellLetsTalk #mentalhealthawareness

My cancer was discovered late. Doctors estimated that even with a bone marrow transplant my odds were still only 55% at best.

Three years of treatment (including two failed bone marrow transplants) resulted in a plethora of late effects: cataracts, preset osteoporosis, stunted growth, damage to my pancreas, changes in my skin pigmentation and a few others. That said, for me the worst part was not the effects on my body but the mental impact of it all. There was the feeling of isolation that came with being a kid in cancer treatment during my formative years; the fear of relapse and believing I was just on “borrowed time”; the self-deprecating thoughts that I didn’t earn my grades, my teachers just pitied me; and finally, the guilt of surviving when others did not.

Many of us childhood cancer survivors know at least one person who did not make it. I actually know a few but the one who stands out for me is Andy. Andy came to our school in grade 10 after just having finished treatment for leukemia. I thought we would bond over our shared cancer experience, but it turned out Andy wasn’t interested in talking about his illness. Still we became fast friends. In grade 12 when he relapsed, doctors gave him a low chance of survival. He decided to forgo treatment and within a few months, Andy passed away. I remember when I got the news one of the first things to pop into my head was, “I wish it was me.” To this day, the guilt of that being one of my first thoughts has etched itself into my brain and soul.

When high school ended, I decided to push the negative thoughts deep down. At that time, I decided to go to college for social work. I often tell people that I chose the field because I wanted to give something back for all the help I received. In reality that is only partially true. The other reason was that I wanted to make sure no other kid turned out like me.

After completing a Bachelor’s in Social Work from Carleton University, I was only able to get part-time work. I was seriously underemployed and despite my efforts, had difficulty launching a full-time career. All of those negative thoughts started to bubble to the top. The voice in the back of my mind told me I was broken and worthless and within a short period, I started to believe it. I secretly wished that I had died during my treatment or that I would develop a secondary cancer. I had hit rock bottom.

It was during a routine checkup at Princess Margaret Hospital that I met a nurse practitioner who sensed something was off and asked some questions. It was the first time in years that someone in the healthcare field seemed to care about my mental state (not just the physical) and it just all came bursting out. She recommended therapy and gave me the contact information for the survivor care program at POGO.

With a few months, my confidence started to grow. I was volunteering at POGO and I started to get interviews with government agencies and major non-profits. Even though I was not hired, I always received great feedback and was often told that I was within the top three final candidates.

Soon a position opened up at POGO and I was recommended for the job. To my surprise, I got it and now work as an Administrative Assistant to the POGO Financial Assistance Program. Even though I still have moments where negative thoughts creep into my mind, I feel as if this is where I belong and thanks to my supervisor and the other POGO staff, I continue to grow both on a personal and professional level.

I now know that I am not worthless and broken. And although treatment has left me physically and mentally battered and bruised, I am still standing.

For more on survivor guilt, read Leanne Brown’s story The Burden of Surviving Childhood Cancer.

Dr. Christopher Recklitis: Emotional Health After Childhood Cancer

Posted on December 1, 2016 by Kelly Zorzi

For many patients, the childhood cancer experience takes them away from school, hobbies and friends and thrusts them into the adult world.

In his talk Emotional Health After Childhood Cancer, Dr. Christopher Recklitis stresses the importance of talking to your healthcare professionals about how to maintain balance between regular life and treatment.

Christopher Recklitis, PhD, MPH, is the Director of Research and Supportive Services at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at Harvard Medical School in Boston. He spoke at POGO’s 2013 Survivor Conference: Life after Childhood Cancer.

Straight Talk about Childhood Cancer is POGO’s series of video shorts featuring the insights of experts whose leading-edge work impacts the care, treatment and quality of life of childhood cancer patients, survivors and their families.

Beyond Survival: Emotional Equilibrium After Cancer

Posted on November 26, 2015 by admin

VIEW THE PRESENTATION

Presentation description:
Childhood cancer can be an intensely stressful experience that may have emotional affects even years after treatment. While cancer can contribute to personal growth in some ways, it can also lead to emotional and social vulnerabilities later in life. This session explored common developmental challenges for survivors, highlighted the relationship between emotional and physical health, and considered the different ways survivors make sense of their cancer experiences as they move into adulthood.

Speaker:
Christopher J. Recklitis, Ph.D., MPH
Senior Psychologist
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
Assistant Professor of Pediatrics
Harvard Medical School

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