The Psychological Impacts and Coping Strategies of People Under 60 Living With Mesothelioma Cancer: A Qualitative Study

Abstract

Introduction: Mesothelioma is a life-limiting cancer that results in an array of psychological difficulties. While this cancer is associated with older men exposed to asbestos, it can develop in people under 60, though little research has considered the challenges and ways of supporting this younger demographic.

Methods: Online semistructured interviews were carried out one-to-one with a total of 18 individuals; 6 men and 12 women, aged 26–59 (mean age 45), diagnosed with pleural or peritoneal mesothelioma. Participants could also share and discuss photographs to help further convey their cancer experiences. An interpretative phenomenological approach guided the analysis of transcript and photographic data.

Results: Two themes with discrete subthemes are presented: “dying young of an older person’s disease,” which explores individuals’ experiences of shock at diagnosis and widespread sense of disrupted living, concern for family members, and lack of peer support, and “living young with an older person’s disease,” which explores psychobehavioral coping via focus on the atypicality of mesothelioma in young groups, return to everyday living, and via activities and exercise to manage anxiety and foster a sense of agency.

Conclusion: Findings demonstrate the need to develop tailored clinical and psychotherapeutic support to address the practical and psychological difficulties younger people encounter.