림프부종의 정신과적 관리

Lymphedema is a serious condition which can affect patients’ quality of life. Physical conditions such as limb swelling, inflammation, or odors from the skin defect, affects mental health status of cancer patients. Patients with lymphedema suffer from various psychiatric symptoms such as depression, anxiety, or insomnia, and these psychiatric symptoms can also reduce their quality of life. Unfortunately, proper diagnosis and management for psychiatric problems were not widely applied to patients with lymphedema. Major depressive disorder can reduce the compliance of cancer patients to regular treatment, and resultantly may reduce the survival rate. Anxiety disorder can disturb patients’ daily life. And also, sleep disturbance, may come from daytime fatigue symptoms related with cancer-related conditions, may decrease patients’ quality of life. In this review, important psychiatric disease frequently observed among patients with lymphedema will be reviewed and discussed.