Key tips to manage anxiety in cancer patients

September 8, 2021

418 3 minutes read

We all feel a little worry, nervousness, uneasiness, frightened about the current situation or about something that might happen shortly. These symptoms are nothing but anxiety.

Most cancer patients, after cancer screening being diagnosed, develop anxiety issues. Cancer screening is one of important procedure that helps in diagnosing the cancer at its earliest stage. This increases the chances of curing the cancer. Reports has suggested that the cancer screening can save lives. The mild anxiety might cause nausea, diarrhea and even affects the immune system, while severe anxiety affects the mental health of an individual and completely disrupts their daily routine.

In this article, we will learn everything about anxiety and how cancer fighters can reduce anxiety during their battle with cancer.

Anxiety is a pretty common symptom that all ill people experience, this anxiety even crawls up into the minds of family members and friends of the ill person. In the same way, anxiety commonly coexists with cancer fighters, and these anxiety symptoms even increase after they have been diagnosed.

Types of anxiety disorder in cancer patients:

Some of the most common anxiety disorders seen in cancer patients are:

Panic disorder
Generalized anxiety disorder
Fear of specific thing or situation (specific phobia)
Social anxiety disorder
Post-traumatic stress disorder

The possible reasons for anxiety in cancer patients:

Fear of chemotherapy and its side effects
Most people fear death
Cancer patients fear developing the disease again after going through the treatment
Worried about relationship with close ones

Signs and symptoms of anxiety:

The physical and psychological signs and symptoms of anxiety are :

Dry mouth
Tension in the muscles
Worrying a lot
Anxiousness reflects on the face
Trembling
Restless
Short-tempered most of the time

Screening of anxiety in cancer patients:

Screening of anxiety in cancer patients is made by asking certain questions to them. These questions might be related to their feelings, source of fear, any physical symptoms, or any changes in daily routine, etc. Based on their answers, further treatment is assessed for cancer patients. Screening is done by healthcare professionals at regular intervals during and after the treatment.

We all can agree that discussing the problem is not easy, but communicating the feelings with friends, family, or even healthcare providers can be of great help.

How to deal with anxiety?

It is important to realize that cancer diagnosis and cancer treatment causing anxiety is normal.
Talking to your healthcare provider helps in managing the symptoms.
Enough sleep is important to relieve anxiety.
Practicing yoga and meditation helps in managing anxiety.
Joining a group of cancer fighters helps.
Communicating your thoughts with your close ones and your healthcare provider helps in coping with anxiety.
Maintain a healthy diet and a healthy support group.

It is not easy to live with cancer. One has to make a lot of adjustments while coping with cancer. Anxiety management needs to be changed in different stages of a cancer patient’s life.

Tip to reveal anxiety symptoms immediately:

Whenever the patient is feeling anxious, often caught in a loop of negative thoughts. Ask them to play this game to stop the anxiety immediately:

1. Look at the surroundings and name 5 things you can see.

2. 5 sounds you can hear.

3. Move 5 parts of your body that you can feel, such as rotating arms, wiggling legs, raising eyebrows, etc.

Conclusion:

Consult your doctor immediately if you are facing these symptoms of anxiety and get solutions. If you are looking for a second opinion you can always rely on mozocare.

To know more about cancer and managing the effects of cancer and cancer treatments make sure you follow us and never miss an episode on oncopod. To know how to manage appearance-related side effects in cancer patients click the link below.