Importance of Counseling following Genetic Testing

While genetic testing can be a useful tool to detect whether you are susceptible to a particular disease, the knowledge of your susceptibility may be enough to cause you mental anguish.

Let’s say that your close family member just died of cancer and now you wonder whether or not you may suffer the same fate. You decide to ask your doctor for genetic testing for the same type of cancer thinking that being proactive is better than finding out too late. Your results come back and its positive that you have the genetic marker cancer. All of sudden, you anxiety goes up and you think, “How much time do I have left?”

This worry can turn into depression and greatly influence how you live life. Just the knowledge of the potential of having a disease has made you feel doomed. Counseling or therapy would be helpful in this situation.

A therapist can help you mourn the loss of your loved one in a healthy way. Counseling can help you through your thoughts and fears. Many of the feelings you have are from negative thoughts, and cognitive behavioral therapy can help you change those thoughts, which will help you with your anxiety and/or depression and subsequently your behavior and attitudes towards life.

(Photo Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/nyki_m/2971031019/)

August 5th, 2009 by Marcelina Hardy | Posted in Genetic Testing | (0)