Use of Bibliotherapy for Depression in Pediatric Cancer Patients.

In this article, we discuss the use of bibliotherapy for depression in pediatric cancer patients, to attract attention to the importance of this method, overlooked by most health professionals. Cancer in children and adolescents is one of the most serious health problems worldwide. There is a subgroup of children with cancer at increased risk for anxiety and depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder. Psychosocial providers offer a wide range of psychotherapeutic interventions to pediatric cancer patients and their families. Bibliotherapy (also referred to as book therapy or reading therapy), a form of psychotherapy, involves using any text to improve physical, social, mental, and spiritual health, through reading, discussing, and facilitating a better understanding. Studies have shown that bibliotherapy is effective in reducing symptoms of depression in children, adolescents and adults. Bibliotherapy is also effective in decreasing symptoms of depression in adult patients with cancer; however, to the best of our knowledge, no study has been reported about use of bibliotherapy for depression in pediatric cancer patients. Therefore, we strongly recommend that randomized controlled studies should be conducted on the use of bibliotherapy for depression in children and adolescents with cancer.