Managing Prostate Cancer

The statistics are sobering: over 200,000 men in the United States are diagnosed with prostate cancer every year. With this diagnosis, men are expected to psychologically combat the worry, practical concerns, and the emotional and physical changes during an immensely trying time. How to help? In Managing Prostate Cancer: A Guide for Living Better, Dr. Andrew J. Roth, a psychiatrist specializing in psychological support for cancer patients, provides the emotional skills and strategies necessary to help patients deal with the challenges a prostate cancer diagnosis brings to everyday life. These tools, which Dr. Roth terms "Emotional Judo," effectively teach patients to identify what their fears are rooted in, how to distinguish the rational and irrational aspects of their thoughts and behaviors, make healthier choices to promote a more positive approach, and ultimately transform their lives into a more fulfilling and peaceful journey.

Andrew J. Roth, MD, has been the psychiatry liaison to the Genitourinary Medical Oncology Program at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center for the last 20 years. He has helped men and their families navigate the uncertainties of a prostate cancer diagnosis, helping them thrive with, and not just survive, the diagnosis, treatment decisions, and complications of treatments and illness.

Pregame: Overview and Introduction
Part One: Diagnosis and Early Stage Disease
Chapter One Why Me? Why Not Me? What Now? And Why Is a Psychiatrist Writing a Book about Prostate Cancer?
Chapter Two How to Make the Right Treatment Choice When There Is No Perfect Choice Chapter Three Lifting the Weight of Waiting and Preparing for Treatment: Definitive Treatment vs. Watchful Waiting or Active Surveillance Chapter Four Prostate Cancer Anxiety, Depression, and Sleep Problems: Enter the DRAFT and Learn the Emotional Judo (EJ) Playbook
Chapter Five Do I Really Need a Psychiatric Medicine to Cope with Prostate Cancer?
Chapter Six Keeping the Flames of Intimacy Alive
Chapter Seven Urinary, Bowel, and Energy Leaks: This Wasn't Supposed to Happen to Me
Chapter Eight Not for Patients Only: Spouses or Partners Can Manage Better, Communicate More Effectively, and Help the Whole Family
Part Two: Later Stage Disease and Recurrence of Disease
Chapter Nine Coping with Recurrence of Cancer If the "Definitive" Treatment Doesn't Work: Going Hormonal
Chapter Ten Grieving for Loss . . . of Trust, of Physical Wholeness, of Invulnerability and Immortality: How to Re-Invest in Your Future As a Wise Role Model
Index