May is Mental Health Month and National Cancer Research Month. Recently, the two have coincided as researchers continue to learn more about the mental health of those dealing with breast cancer, not just cancer’s effect on physical health.
A surprise to basically no one, a breast cancer diagnosis can often lead to a person experiencing depression and anxiety, whether an emergence of new mental health challenges or an exacerbation of an existing condition. Not only can hearing the diagnosis of cancer be scary, but sometimes side effects of the treatments themselves can lead to the development of depression. Uncontrolled depression and anxiety can affect the quality of life of a breast cancer survivor and potentially the quantity as well. A literature review (comparing the results of multiple studies using established criteria) showed that younger women diagnosed with breast cancer have the poorest prognosis when they also have depression and anxiety. Across the literature review, diagnosis of depression was associated with breast cancer recurrence, all-cause mortality, and cancer-specific mortality.
With this information, what is the medical system doing to provide more help to breast cancer patients also facing mental health challenges? In January, a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association showed that medical centers that received technical assistance in connecting their breast cancer patients to mental health services did so more often than the medical centers that just received information on the importance of depression screenings. Medical providers are experiencing burnout at record levels. They are increasingly overwhelmed with patient load, so providing the medical centers with “program education, audit, and feedback of performance data and implementation facilitation” and locally adapting “clinical workflows” resulted in significant improvement in patient care.
Finally, if you think you or a loved one might be experiencing depression or anxiety, please tell a healthcare provider, regardless of what you think the source might be. Having depression or anxiety doesn’t always mean that you need medication to treat the conditions. Still, it is important for your healthcare team to know what symptoms you may be experiencing. Curious about what it might look like to get counseling? Visit our Talk to a Therapist page. Not quite ready for counseling but looking for more support? Check out a local support group.
No matter your breast cancer treatment experience, no matter if you are the patient or the caregiver, what you are feeling is real and important. Please seek help if you are struggling.
Other resources:
National Suicide Prevention Hotline: 800-273-8255
Photo by Marcel Strauß on Unsplash
