Oncology, Stress, and Psychosomatics: How to Support Yourself Without Myths, and How MriyaRun Tools Help

When a person hears the word "oncology," it feels as if someone has abruptly turned off the sound in the room. All familiar thoughts — about shopping, plans, work chats, that strange shelf in the closet that was supposed to be sorted out three years ago — recede into the background. What remains is one big and very human question: "What now?"

And this is where a delicate territory begins. On the one hand, it is essential to rely on medical facts: cancer requires diagnosis, treatment, observation, doctors, and protocols. There is no place for magical thinking and advice like "just don't stress." On the other hand, a human being is more than just medical tests and prescriptions. They are also fear, anger, exhaustion, hope, the desire to live, sometimes the desire to see no one, and sometimes a sudden need to regain at least some control over the situation.

The main idea is simple: the psyche should not become an accusation. Stress, trauma, or suppressed emotions can affect the quality of life, but this does not mean that a person "created the disease themselves." Such an approach only adds guilt where there is already plenty of pain.

Oncological diseases are poly-factorial. This means that many factors influence the risk: age, genetics, lifestyle, environment, and random mutations. In 70-80% of cases, the development of a malignant tumor occurs spontaneously, and mutations are accumulated over a lifetime due to environment and lifestyle.

A direct and simple line of "stress = cancer" cannot be drawn. Chronic stress is not the sole cause, but it acts like a bad life manager: it ruins schedules, disrupts sleep, switches the nervous system into a chronic anxiety mode, and weakens the immune system, making it less effective in detecting abnormal cells.

"In practical psychology, particularly in Transactional Analysis (TA) and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), we view the reaction to a severe diagnosis through the lens of losing one's psychological anchors. When facing oncology, a person's psyche often 'flies out' into the state of a frightened or helpless Child. This is natural. The task of therapy is not to force someone into 'positive thinking' but to help them reclaim the position of an Adult.

We look at what life scripts have been activated right now. Has the person been ignoring their own needs for years? Do they know how to ask for help without feeling like a burden? Psychosomatics is not about the idea that 'you held onto resentment and therefore got sick.' Psychosomatics, in our understanding, is about how unexpressed emotions and chronic tension drain the very resource that the body critically needs right now for fighting and recovery. Our goal is to stop this energy leak and, step by step, activate a personal Spiral of Growth."

Many people go through emotional stages similar to the stages of grief (based on Elisabeth Kübler-Ross's model): shock and denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. This is not a strict ladder that everyone climbs in the exact same way. Rather, these are rooms between which a person can move back and forth.

Psychological aspects preceding emotional exhaustion often include difficulties expressing emotions, a prolonged state of hopelessness, helplessness, despair, or the loss of meaningful emotional connections. Reacting to problems with a sense of helplessness and giving up the fight suppresses the body's natural defense mechanisms and creates conditions for tumor proliferation.

It is crucial not to demand a "correct" reaction from yourself. There is no single beautiful way to be sick. There is only a living way: with different feelings, pauses, tears, hope, and dark humor that only those who go through serious treatment truly understand.

When the ground slips from beneath your feet, you need tools to structure the chaos in your mind. MriyaRun products were created specifically to serve as a gentle yet reliable support system that helps shift the focus from helplessness to action.

1. Practicum Workbooks: Structure Instead of Panic Unlike ordinary notebooks, all MriyaRun products are specifically structured "practicum workbooks" (such as the CBT SHIFT series) built on the methods of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. During treatment, the brain often focuses exclusively on anxious scenarios. A practicum workbook helps to:

2. Resource Cards: Legalizing Personal Needs During an illness, people often continue to play the role of "convenient" patients or "strong" relatives. The “Я маю право” / “I Have a Right” deck works as an instrument of legalization: I have the right to be afraid, I have the right not to be a hero, I have the right to my boundaries, needs, and silence. This is the first step toward reducing internal pressure. And the “Я живу своє щасливе життя” / “I Live My Happy Life” deck helps find space for joy, visibility, and soft personal strength even in difficult circumstances: what do I choose for myself today?

This practice fits perfectly into the concept of working with practicum workbooks. Draw three circles:

The task is to redirect energy from the third circle back into the first. The brain loves to sit in the third circle, generating anxious series with no finale. But life usually improves through small actions taken within the first circle.

Oncology is a medical reality, not a psychological fault. Treatment must remain in the hands of medical professionals. However, the psyche, relationships, the ability to process emotions, and hope are of immense importance because it is not an "organ in a vacuum" that is sick, but a living human being with their history and family (when a person gets sick, the whole family system is affected and needs support).

The task of psychotherapy and MriyaRun self-reflection tools is not to promise miracles, but to re-evaluate the meaning of stress-inducing events, identify unconscious secondary gains from a victim mindset, set life-affirming goals, and learn to cope with stressful situations. It is a way to restore a person's voice, connection with loved ones, and the ability to see life as something broader than a diagnosis.

A peaceful soul and a healthy body form the balance we strive for. And if a person at that moment can say: "I don't have to cope perfectly. But I have a right to support, and I am not alone," — that is already the beginning of deep and healing inner work.