Mental health tips when fighting cancer

Have you or someone you know been diagnosed with breast cancer? We ask a mental health expert for their advice on how to cope.

It’s a diagnosis many women dread, and when it happens to you, there is no way of knowing or controlling how you’ll feel. You might be emotionally numb one day, sobbing uncontrollably the next. Even though you may be focused on medical treatment, it’s also important to look after your mental health as well.

According to the Cancer Association of South Africa (CANSA), nearly half of cancer patients report experiencing feelings of distress. At the same time, one out of three people diagnosed with cancer also ends up struggling with a mental health issue such as anxiety or depression.

“A breast cancer diagnosis commonly evokes intense and complex feelings.”

Dr Tina Sideris, a Johannesburg-based clinical psychologist, has many years of experience working with people with acute and chronic life-threatening illnesses, including breast cancer.

‘A breast cancer diagnosis commonly evokes intense and complex feelings,’ she explains. ‘These do not necessarily fit psychiatric diagnostic labels such as depressive or anxiety disorder. Feelings range from fear to desperation and may include anger, intense sadness, dread, and confusion,’ she adds.

‘Being confronted with mortality, uncertainty and loss of control can be overwhelming. Some find the changes in their bodies disturbing. Acknowledge and validate your feelings. Try not to shut them down or minimise them. Not all emotions will be consciously known but could manifest in behaviours you don’t understand.’

Dr Sideris shares her advice:

BE SELF-COMPASSIONATE
Accept your vulnerability with kindness and compassion. Try not to judge yourself for feeling afraid, angry, sad or agitated. At the same time, try not to feed your fears, anger or sorrow by constructing stories about the future.

Instead, you may find comfort in deep breathing, walking, practising your preferred spirituality, and being with those you love and trust. Try not to judge yourself for trying to find hope and calm.

FIND A MIDDLE WAY
Try to find a middle way between being overwhelmed by your emotions and shutting your emotions down. Naming and acknowledging feelings can relieve the dread, while putting them down on paper can be a good strategy. Avoid denial, as this is not helpful.

BE FORGIVING
Try to let go of the ‘why me’ questions. We don’t always have a choice. Circumstances and events happen. This does not mean we are victims. You do have a choice in how you respond. Take responsibility for your treatment and do whatever is needed as best as you can.

REMEMBER, YOU ARE NOT ALONE
You are part of a community. People are vulnerable to sickness and injury. Like you, other women diagnosed with breast cancer feel angry, afraid, sad and desperate. But, like you, other women diagnosed with it find hope and healing.

ASK FOR HELP
If you have a consistently low mood for more than two weeks, have lost interest in life, experience changes in your sleeping patterns, changes in appetite, feel guilt and experience low self-worth, and have anxiety that is interfering with your ability to function, it is important to seek help from a professional.

 JET CLUB BENEFIT
PERSONAL HEALTH ADVISOR HELPLINE
For free advice on personal health issues, Jet Club members can call our helpline

SA & Namibia
0800 0045 45

Botswana, Lesotho & Swaziland
+2711 991 8258

BY ROBYN MACLARTY