Teen ‘detached from reality’ to cope with return of aggressive cancer

• Psychological dissociation may occur in adolescent cancer patients following relapse, representing a coping mechanism to trauma of recurrent aggressive disease
• Early psychological assessment and support should be integrated into cancer recurrence protocols, particularly for younger patients
• Clinicians should recognize altered mental states in teenage patients post-relapse as potentially adaptive responses requiring specialist psychological intervention rather than pathology alone

Ethan found out his cancer had returned two weeks after successful treatment.

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