Psychoprophylaxis: what is it and how does it help patients before surgery?

A summary about this psychotherapeutic process for surgery patients.

Psychoprophylaxis is a method of psychological intervention aimed at all those people who have to undergo surgery or are in the process of recovery after having undergone surgery. or are in the process of recovery after having undergone surgery.

This intervention focuses its efforts on adequately channeling the patient's emotions and impulses that could have a direct impact on the operation process.

In this article we will see what psychoprophylaxis consists of, and its characteristics.

What exactly is psychoprophylaxis?

This therapeutic tool is based on employing multiple resources based on specific activitiesdepending on what the patient's needs are. For example, it is not the same to apply psychoprophylaxis to a pregnant woman as to a person who has undergone spinal surgery.

In this sense, the activities should be different, but always focused on promoting always focused on promoting coping, on reducing the psychological sequelae of the operation, and on accelerating biopsychological recovery.and accelerating the biopsychosocial recovery of the person.

As for the activities used, they are varied and depend on the reality of the patient and other factors, such as the patient's age and interest in such activities.

In the case of children, activities of a playful nature are usually used, so that through the process of play the patient can so that through the process of play the therapist can influence the level of distress of the child and relate the feeling of tranquility produced by playing with the surgical experience to be faced (or with the recovery process through which he/she is going through).

In the case of adults, the techniques are more related to physical activities that can provide them with a state of flow sufficient to make the therapy have good results.

Psychoeducation is an important element of psychoprophylaxis, since the simple fact of having information helps people to adopt life habits capable of promoting proper mental health.

In the same way, psychoeducation is used so that patients diagnosed with disorders know how to minimize the likelihood of relapses or of adopting routines that lead to other disorders or physical illnesses (which may arise given their vulnerable situation). And also to inform the relatives of these patients, so that they create a context adapted to the patient.

How to help patients?

In the following we will see in detail the areas of influence of psychoprophylaxis.

1. Coping with the operation

This area focuses on the cognitive part of the patient, and the resolution of doubts and concerns of people, in addition to giving the possibility of expressing the anguish in words and questioning irrational beliefs.

2. Minimizing the psychic sequels of the operation

The aim here is to prevent the subject from being left with any psychic trauma as a result of the operation.

For example, it sometimes happens that after undergoing surgery, post-traumatic stress appears, by which the subject generates an irrational fear of everything that happens during the operation. irrational fear to everything related to medical procedures, or health centers.or health centers.

This can be achieved by means of the mayeutics employed by the therapist during the activities with the patient. It is a matter of identifying and modifying the subject's catastrophic thoughts in order to replace them with more adaptive ones.

3. Accelerating biopsychosocial recovery

Taking into account that a surgical procedure can interfere in several aspects of a person's life, not only organically, but also socially and psychologically, psychoprophylaxis is in charge of recovering the person in each of these areas..

From the physical activities that are used in this form of intervention, we work on the physical part that contributes to organic recovery, and at the same time we propose a significant social interaction, which helps the subject to gain confidence to face his situation with a more optimistic and adaptive attitude.

What are the variants of this technique?

Depending on the case, there will be some variations in this therapeutic method, as we have seen above, it is not the same to face a childbirth as a spinal surgery.

Thus, depending on the surgical process to which the subject must undergo, there must be certain adaptations. Let's take a look at them.

1. The integration of the medical team

This involves involving the members of the medical staff related to the operation in at least one of the therapeutic sessions, so that the patient feels more confident with the process and decreases his anxiety level.

2. Psychoeducation regarding the operation

During this process, the therapist is in charge of providing the patient with specific information about the process to which he/she must undergo, or to which he/she has been submitted. Always from a positive approach, with a view to restoring the subject's quality of life.

3. Working with the family

In some cases it is good to involve the family in the therapy.especially in cases where one or more family members play the role of caregivers.

This is not only positive for the patient but also for the family members, who may have a high level of stress and anxiety as a consequence of their caregiving duties.