Managing hope, denial or temporal anomie? : informal cancer carers' accounts of spouses' cancer diagnoses

Carers of cancer patients' emotional responses to cancer diagnoses have been a central focus within psycho-oncology. Some of this literature asserts that the maladaptive coping strategy denial is prevalent amongst carers. Using semi-structured, longitudinal interviews with 32 Australian Capital Territory carers of a spouse with cancer and an interactionist sociology of emotions framework to understanding their emotions, this study aimed to both contribute to the literature on cancer carers' coping strategies and provide a richer sociological depiction of carers' emotional reactions to a cancer diagnosis. The results raise questions about the value of singularly examining denial in cancer carers. Instead, these data suggest that carers use a range of coping strategies in the short-term and do emotion work to adapt to a challenged temporal orientation. The term temporal anomie is offered to describe carers' disrupted orientations in time and facilitate further discussion on the link between time and emotion work. Findings also show the importance of medical professionals' casting of the prognosis, from imminent death to certain future, to this temporal re-orientation and emotion work process. Instead of 'managing hope,' as much of the cancer communication literature describes it, findings suggest that physicians address cancer carers' and patients' temporal anomie. Future research might benefit from moving beyond individualistic conceptualisations of carers' emotions to include the cultural, temporal and interactionist influences.