When diagnosed with breast cancer, patients experience a wide range of psychological challenges. During this time, it is important for health care providers to be sensitive and compassionate to the patient’s needs.
Psychologists can help breast cancer survivors overcome the emotional and mental impact of their diagnosis. In addition, they can use their knowledge of mind-body interactions to improve physical recovery.
Depression
Depression is a common comorbidity among breast cancer patients, which may result in a decreased quality of life and affect treatment outcomes. It is important to provide proper assessment and treatment for depression at the time of BC diagnosis, during the treatment journey, and monitoring after treatment completion.
Licensed psychologists and other mental health professionals can help women cope with the physical, emotional, and medical changes associated with breast cancer and medical treatments that can be distressing. They can also help women learn to control stress, anxiety, and depression so they are less likely to experience symptoms of these disorders in the future.
Depression is a serious mental illness that can affect a person’s ability to work, sleep, think and feel. It can also cause hallucinations (seeing or hearing things that are not there) and delusions (false beliefs that are not shared by others).
Anxiety
Despite advances in early detection and treatment, breast cancer remains a stressful experience. This stress can cause a number of psychological issues including depression and anxiety.
Anxiety is a common problem that many people experience at some point in their lives. It can be chronic and cause trouble with work, relationships, and daily activities.
Risk factors for anxiety include personality traits, a history of mental health problems, and other medical conditions. These can include heart, lung, or thyroid diseases that can trigger feelings of anxiety.
Life events that can raise your anxiety include trauma, loss, and a severe illness or health condition. Substance abuse can also make you more prone to anxiety.
Anxiety disorders can be treated with medication and psychotherapy. These treatments can help you learn to recognize and change thoughts that are making you anxious. They can also teach you ways to cope with stressful situations. The goal of these treatments is to restore calm so you can feel more in control of your life.
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
After a traumatic event, it’s normal to experience stress symptoms for a while. These may include anxiety, irritability and trouble sleeping. However, for some people these symptoms continue longer than a few months and can develop into PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder).
Women are more likely to have PTSD after experiencing trauma like military combat or sexual assault than men. This is because women often have a more intense reaction to certain types of trauma than men.
PTSD is caused by a traumatic event and can happen to anyone, at any age. But it can also be caused by things you do or say after the traumatic event, for example when you think about what happened or if you find it hard to relax.
PTSD is a long-lasting mental health condition that can be treated with talking therapy and medication. Medication such as venlafaxine and selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) can help reduce some of the core symptoms, including nightmares and irritability.
Grief
Grief is a common emotional response to loss. It is often experienced after the death of someone, but grief can also be experienced when a person loses their relationship, job, pet, health, way of life or treasured possessions.
People may have a hard time dealing with their feelings, and they often feel confused or overwhelmed. These feelings may last for weeks, months or even years.
Researchers have developed a model of grief that is based on 5 stages: denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance. While many people do move through these stages, it is important to remember that everyone’s experiences of grief are different.
Some women who have been diagnosed with cancer feel sad, upset or angry about their condition. It is a natural reaction to the changes that the disease has caused in their lives, and it can be very difficult to manage.