Cancer not only impacts your physical health, but your emotional wellbeing too. At many points in your journey, you’ll find yourself going through a range of emotions that can be just as difficult to deal with as the physical challenges.
If you’ve been questioning your feelings, it’s important to remember that there’s no “correct” response to your diagnosis. People with cancer are all individuals and will have very personal and unique emotional responses so try not to compare yourself to others.
It is possible that there will be times during your cancer experience when your emotional wellbeing will be most affected. This usually happens at times like:
- Diagnosis
- Making treatment decisions
- Starting cancer treatment
- Side effects from treatment
- Ending treatment
- Late-stage cancer
Keep reading to explore the common emotional reactions to cancer and discover possible ways to cope if they’re affecting you.
Emotional reactions:
Shock:
When you receive a cancer diagnosis, feelings of disbelief and shock are common. You might even feel numb or frozen — like you can’t comprehend the full extent of what’s happening. This is a natural response to a life-changing diagnosis. It takes time to process the news and adjust to the reality of living with cancer. So give yourself a chance to absorb the news and don’t feel guilty or ashamed for experiencing this emotion. Just be cautious about letting shock turn into denial of your diagnosis. It might manifest as pretending nothing is wrong, minimising the severity of your diagnosis, or avoiding discussing it altogether.
Overwhelmed and Losing Control:
Once the initial shock wears off, feelings of being overwhelmed are common. This is understandable as there can be so many changes to your body and health and sometimes this makes you feel that you are losing control of your own decision making. Don’t try to do everything at once or take on more than you can manage. Instead, prioritise what needs to be done and ask for help when needed. Empowering yourself with information about cancer can also help you to feel more in control of your decisions and managing your health.
Fear, Worry, Stress, and Anxiety:
Cancer treatments have advanced greatly in recent years. But worry and stress are still common reactions to having cancer. You might be concerned about treatment and its side effects, the chances of survival, and financial implications. If your worries develop into something more persistent and debilitating, you may be experiencing anxiety. To help manage your stress and anxiety, start by talking to your healthcare team about how you have been feeling. Meditating or doing calming activities can also be helpful. It’s also useful to educate yourself about cancer so you can be fully aware of your cancer and treatment options. This will help you feel more certain about what to expect.
Sadness and Depression:
It’s common to feel sadness throughout a cancer experience. Sometimes, it can deepen into depression if you don’t address it early. This might manifest in not wanting to engage in daily activities, changes in appetite or giving up on treatment. Depression is common among cancer patients and can severely impact one’s quality of life. You may require professional support to manage mental health impacts.
Anger:
Sometimes, you might start to have a feeling of injustice or question “Why me?” when faced with a cancer diagnosis. Anger may be directed toward yourself, medical professionals, family, friends, or even a higher power. It’s completely normal to feel angry at your situation, but unchecked anger can become destructive. Seek support from loved ones or your medical provider if you feel that your anger has turned into something unhelpful to your situation.
Loneliness:
Even with the best support from loved ones, cancer can make you feel isolated in your experience. You might stop meeting up with people, or attending social occasions, because you feel that no one fully understands what you’re going through and this is a path you have to take on your own. At times like these, you can seek support from cancer groups where you’ll find others who have been through similar experiences. You can also reach out to trained counsellors or therapists who specialize in supporting cancer patients.
Blame and Guilt:
Some feel guilty for a range of reasons. You might feel like a burden to others or blame yourself for getting cancer. It’s important to remember that even though we know some of the risk factors for cancer, there’s no clear answer to why it happens and no one deserves cancer.
Hope and Gratitude
As you start to move through different stages of the cancer experience, you might start to feel more uplifting emotions like hope and gratitude.
With cancer treatments constantly evolving and improving, patients have a greater chance of recovery than ever before. This can give you a sense of hope for the future.
You may also find comfort and strength by focusing on things you are grateful for in your life, whether it’s your loved ones, a supportive community, or simply being alive.
At moments like this, embrace these emotions and use them as a chance to help you cope through this difficult time.
Ways to Cope Emotionally With Cancer
Navigating your way through a cancer experience can be stressful, but there are strategies to cope and maintain your mental and emotional well-being:
- Talk about your feelings: It’s important to have a space where you can honestly share your emotions with someone. Don’t be afraid to find emotional support from loved ones or your health care team.
- Remember there’s no “right” way to feel: Everyone’s cancer journey is different and you don’t have to force yourself to be happy or chirpy if you’re having a bad day.
- Seek professional support: Consider speaking to a therapist or counsellor trained in providing emotional support for cancer patients. This is especially important if you have a history of depression, anxiety, or any other mental health condition.
- Find peer support: Joining a cancer support group with other patients or cancer survivors lets you share your experiences with others, which can be extremely validating.
- Stay active: Engage in light physical activity as approved by your doctor to boost mood and combat stress.
- Do things that bring you joy: Keeping up with activities or hobbies that make you happy can offer a sense of normalcy and distraction from cancer.
- Practice mindfulness: Techniques such as meditation, deep breathing, or yoga can help manage stress and anxiety.
- Educate yourself: Understanding your diagnosis and treatment options can help reduce fear of the unknown.
Remember that taking care of your emotional health is just as important as your physical health. Try and invest time in developing coping mechanisms so that the emotional strain of cancer can be more manageable.