How a Cancer Prognosis Can Affect Our Mental Health
October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month; let’s look at how a cancer diagnosis can affect the mental health of patients and their family.
Breast cancer is one of the most common forms of cancer across the world. In fact of the 18.1 million individuals diagnosed with cancer in 2020, breast cancer diagnoses lead the rank with 12.5% of the diagnoses. One can only imagine the physical and financial toll a cancer diagnosis takes on the patients and their families; flipping their lives on the head Furthermore, early detection of cancer can lead to a better prognosis. Many hospitals across the world facilitate this by providing complementary mammograms and other tests to ensure early detection.
While a cancer diagnosis can be terrifying, we see plenty of examples through men and women who fight their way through the disease and are standing before us today. Wanda Sykes, Christina Applegate and Edward Brooke are some of the warriors and survivors of breast cancer who use their respective platforms to raise awareness as well as share their experiences of battling the disease.
Despite the abundance of information available about breast cancer treatment and prognosis, one aspect that people are less aware of is the impact on the patient’s and their loved ones’ mental health. The lack of awareness then prevents them from receiving appropriate treatment for their mental health. Anxiety and depression are common during these times, according to research and statistics, with one in every three people diagnosed experiencing a common mental health disorder.
How Does a Cancer Diagnosis Affect the Mental Health of Family and Caregivers?
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How Does a Cancer Diagnosis Impact the Mental Health of Patients?
Cancer is not considered an isolated illness but rather a permanent diagnosis wherein the road to recovery can be quite arduous and uncertain, with chances of relapsing. The latter is one of the most common fears among both patients as well as family members. Unsurprisingly, this has a significant impact on the psychological well-being of patients. Various studies have found that the prevalence of mental health illnesses increases among cancer patients. In this section, we will look at how a cancer diagnosis can impact the mental health of patients.
a. Depression and Anxiety
More than 10% of cancer patients have been reported to suffer from depression. In the face of a cancer diagnosis, this is a natural and inevitable response creating a setback in various domains of their lives. But if patients experience more stress than their coping styles allow for, they increase the risk of experiencing a major depressive disorder.
Moreover, research suggests that prolonged exposure to high levels of distress can lead to depression, anxiety or both among cancer patients, with as much as two-thirds of cancer patients diagnosed with cancer also showing symptoms of anxiety. Among female breast cancer patients, the incidence rates of depression vary between 10% and 66% while the incidence rates for anxiety range from around 18% to 33%. Although a much rarer disease amongst men, a diagnosis of breast cancer has also been shown to have an impact on the mental health of male patients. According to oncologists, depression has a significant influence on the prognosis of cancer in patients.
b. Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
Being diagnosed and treated for cancer can be extremely traumatic for individuals. Individuals tend to go through a range of feelings during this time. From uncertainty regarding the medical processes involved to acute and chronic challenges faced throughout the treatment course and the persisting fear of cancer returning despite individuals being given a clean bill of health, are all considered significant stressors for cancer patients.
Research has found that more than half of the breast cancer patients interviewed, considered the diagnosis of their cancer and the subsequent treatment to be a traumatic stressor. Similarly, individuals diagnosed with lung cancer also reported cancer to be a traumatic stressor for them. Despite much research finding that a cancer diagnosis can be traumatic, it has to be understood that not all individuals diagnosed with cancer will consider the experience to be traumatic. For instance, individuals who have experienced a catastrophic event during the process of their diagnosis or treatment are much more likely to display symptoms of PTSD.
How Does a Cancer Diagnosis Affect the Mental Health of Family and Caregivers?
A cancer diagnosis is not just life-changing for the individual in question but also for their family and caregivers. These are often considered to be long-term stressors and tend to cause caregivers to experience negative psychological, physiological and behavioural symptoms in their day-to-day lives. We will look closely at how having an individual’s cancer diagnosis affects the mental health and well-being of the family.
a. Depression and Anxiety
Families and/or caregivers are reported to experience physical and psychological distress making them susceptible to developing depression due to the stressors they face during these times. Moreover, research has found that levels of depression were high among family caregivers of cancer patients.
In some cases, it has been reported that spouses of cancer patients report higher levels of emotional distress than the patients themselves due to observing their suffering as well as being uncertain of how to help. Research has found family members experience more anxiety, depression, tiredness, role conflicts and social isolation than the patients, often causing their immune systems to weaken over time.
A cancer diagnosis not only affects the physical health of patients but also their mental health and by extension that of their families and/or caregivers. During these challenging times, not only do we need to ensure that we focus on our physical health but also our mental health. Knowing and acknowledging that a cancer diagnosis affects the mental well-being of patients and their families/caregivers can help everyone get the help they need as well as encourage service providers to create a more holistic treatment plan.
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