Vécu traumatique de la mastectomie et résilience chez la femme suite à un cancer du sein : une étude de cas.

Abstract

We entitled our work: "traumatic experience of mastectomy and resilience in women following breast cancer: a study of three (03) cases". Indeed, by observing mastectomized women in our surroundings and in institutions, we have observed that some mastectomized women present a set of behaviors and signs such as: withdrawal, sadness, pain. Following the mastectomy, the woman experiences many difficulties, both physical and psychological. Reich (2009) considers different issues in the "mutilated" woman, he talks about the issue of mourning, castration, body image, the gaze of the other and the image sent back to others and to oneself. itself, of the object to be rejected or reinvested. The woman in this mastectomy situation highlights a succession of questions (what am I going to look like?) that shake her psychological balance and put it in harm's way. However, as Cyrulnik and Duval (2006) stipulate, when the individual is confronted with adversity or faced with a trauma, he will mobilize the internal and external resources present in his life to enable him to adapt to adversity. it is facing and continue to plan for the future. Indeed, the problem posed by our study is that of resilience in mastectomized women following breast cancer. And from this problem, will result the research question which is that of knowing: "how does the woman mastectomized following a breast cancer manage to overcome the trauma suffered and to overcome adversity? From this question, the following hypothesis arises: "the implementation of the process of resilience in women through the mobilization of internal and external resources makes it possible to overcome the trauma associated with mastectomy". In addition, the objective of the present study is to understand how the woman mastectomized following a breast cancer manages to overcome the trauma related to the mastectomy and to overcome adversity. The achievement of this objective was made possible through the clinical method, the use of semi-structured interviews and the trauma tests of Davidson (1997) and the resilience scale of Wagnild and Young (1993). collected data from three mastectomized women met at the SOCHIMIO NGO in Yaoundé. Thematic content analysis and testing report findings that study subjects experienced trauma. And at the end of this trauma, the process of resilience was implemented through the ability to mobilize internal and external resources for a harmonious future. Thus the resilience of these participants was achieved thanks to the mobilization of certain defense mechanisms (denial, splitting, etc.), good mentalization, support from the resilience tutors (family, friends, and colleagues), protective factors (spirituality, financial resources) and adaptive strategies implemented.