UMA ANÁLISE DA ESPIRITUALIDADE DIANTE DO ENFRENTAMENTO AO CÂNCER EM PACIENTES COM SINAIS E SINTOMAS DEPRESSIVOS.

Abstract

 

Introduction: Spirituality/religiosity, since the origins of medicine, have been integral to the human experience of illness and healing. In modern oncology, marked by physical and existential suffering, these dimensions regain centrality, especially through Cicely Saunders’ concept of “total pain,” which encompasses physical, emotional, social, and spiritual aspects. Contemporary medicine acknowledges the limits of the biomedical model and incorporates spirituality as an ethical and therapeutic component of person-centered care.

Objectives: To critically analyze the influence of spirituality and religiosity, both positive and negative, on treatment adherence, pain perception, and quality of life in cancer patients, and to discuss their conceptual foundations, ethical implications, and formative contributions to humanized medical practice.

Methodology: Narrative, qualitative, and analytical-critical monograph based on bibliographical and documentary research, using PubMed, Web of Science, and SciELO databases (2000–2025), and classical works such as Saunders (1963), Koenig (2012), Pargament et al. (2011), and Pessini and Barchifontaine (2021). The study involved interpretative reading and reflective integration of biological, psychological, and spiritual dimensions of oncologic care. Based solely on secondary data, it did not require ethics committee approval (CNS Resolution 510/2016).

Results: Positive spirituality, characterized by faith, hope, and purpose, promotes resilience, adherence, acceptance of finitude, and lower pain perception; negative spirituality, marked by guilt and divine punishment, increases psychological distress, therapeutic resistance, and hopelessness. Ethical spiritual care improves physician–patient communication, strengthens the therapeutic bond, and reduces emotional suffering.

Conclusion: Spirituality and religiosity are legitimate clinical dimensions and determinants of comprehensive cancer care. When positive, they foster adherence, resilience, and pain relief; when negative, they increase vulnerability. Integrating spirituality into medical practice means recognizing that treating cancer also means treating the meaning of life. The future of medicine depends on uniting technique and compassion, body and transcendence, reaffirming spiritual care as an ethical and clinical requirement for truly humanized medicine.