Receiving a cancer diagnosis is a life-changing event, often resulting in a rollercoaster of emotions, fluctuating from denial, anger, and fear to grief, regret, and despair—unavoidably impacting your mental health. However, it is important to realize that while your condition may drastically change your life, it does not have to define you. You are still the same person, with likes and dislikes, friends and hobbies, hopes and dreams.
Mental Health and Breast Cancer
One in eight women are diagnosed with breast cancer in their lifetime, making it the most prevalent type of cancer. Receiving a breast cancer diagnosis will often have a negative impact on mental health, adding another dimension to an already-difficult illness. Patients commonly experience distress, anxiety, PTSD, and depression, among numerous other mental health conditions.
Feelings of despair, isolation, and a loss of self are common, as is a sense of self-blame and regret. Additionally, treatments may cause side effects that can further exacerbate mental health conditions such as insomnia, and inevitable changes to your body.
Pandemic Fears
When the COVID-19 pandemic struck in early 2020, the world was left scared and uncertain, and the fear that cancer patients and others in high-risk populations experienced was exponentially greater. Already vulnerable due to their illness, many cancer patients experienced severely heightened anxiety and actively avoided hospitals for fear of contracting the virus. Regrettably, some delayed their cancer treatment, even with the knowledge that it could be life-threatening.
With the passing of time and the widespread rollout of vaccinations, cancer patients generally feel safer. But some level of fear still remains.
Building a Support System
Managing any chronic illness entails challenges and without a proper support system, these can feel insurmountable. Your support system should naturally include family and friends, but it’s imperative to also have support from your peers—other cancer patients who understand what you’re going through.
Support groups have been known to help patients feel more in control of their situation by learning coping strategies, gaining a sense of hope, and simply having someone who ‘gets you.’ Additionally, having others who can identify with you may help deal with the stigma of feeling like a ‘cancer patient’ and losing your identity to your illness.
Beyond traditional support groups, there are many digital networks and mobile apps available for cancer patients. While some only offer medical information and monitoring, others include social networks akin to a social media platform but anonymous. Being virtual, support is available 24/7. Look for local support groups in your area and find a relevant online community or app that can help you manage your illness and offer support.
Professional Mental Health Support
Seeing a mental health professional who has experience treating breast cancer patients can make an enormous difference in your treatment journey. An experienced professional will help you deal with all the changes in your life due to your illness—physical, mental and emotional—as well as providing coping strategies to get through the actual treatments.
Every patient journey is different and, therefore, approaches to psychotherapy will also differ. Some women may be concerned about breaking news of their diagnose to their family or how to handle parenting during the course of treatments. Others may want to focus more on mental health symptoms they’re experiencing or how to make decisions pertaining to their treatments. A licensed professional will help you work through your emotions, find coping mechanisms, and learn how to deal with your new circumstances.
Additionally, working with a mental health professional can empower you to make more informed decisions about your treatment course; patients that are more involved in their treatment journey often achieve better outcomes.
Your attending medical team may refer you to a psychiatrist for treatment should your symptoms require psychiatric intervention. You may be prescribed medication to help you deal with anxiety, depression, and other common conditions that breast cancer patients can experience, allowing you to be more at ease and focus on managing your illness as best possible.
Additional Interventions
Beyond support and professional help, it’s important to try to maintain a regular routine as much as possible—whether through work, socializing, exercise, or recreation—of course all under direction of your attending physician.
Here are some ideas that can help you maintain your mental health during your illness:
- Document it: Keeping a diary or blog of your journey will help you manage your feelings and may be useful for you to look back on in the future.
- Get in touch with yourself: Practicing yoga, meditation, or other calming techniques on a daily basis or before treatments can help improve your wellbeing.
- Keep up your basic health regimens: Be sure to eat foods that give you energy and make you feel good. Stay hydrated, ensure you get sufficient sleep, and stick to a doctor-approved exercise routine as much as possible. Now more than ever is when you need to be sure your body is properly nourished.
- Bring out your inner artist: Whether you enjoy painting, playing music, dancing, photography or creative writing—expressing yourself through art can be a great way to manage your feelings.
- Cut yourself some slack: Lower your expectations of yourself and request help when you need. While your illness should not define you, you also need to acknowledge the limitations it may bring upon your daily life.
After the Fact
Receiving a clean bill of health after fighting a serious illness is indeed a reason to celebrate. For some cancer survivors though, the new status does not completely rid them of mental health challenges.
It is advisable for survivors to continue seeing a mental health professional while in remission, to learn how to deal with the transition period back to ‘regular life’ and how to cope with the new person they’ve become—both physically and emotionally—as result of their experience.
In addition, many survivors are concerned they may relapse, with a up to 70% of survivors reporting fear of cancer recurrence, sometime during their journey. It is crucial to be aware of and work through these fears, so they do not weigh heavily upon your continued health journey.
While a cancer diagnosis can be the most distressing thing a person ever experiences, intervention and support can empower you through your journey.
WRITTEN BY
Dr. Daniel VorobiofDaniel A. Vorobiof, MD, is the Medical Director of Belong.Life, a developer of social and professional networks for managing and navigating treatments, and the creator of the world's largest social network and navigator app for cancer patients – Belong – Beating Cancer Together. He is the founder and former medical director of the Sandton Oncology Centre in Johannesburg and has published more than 120 peer-reviewed articles in international medical journals.