Depression in Survivors of Breast Cancer
Breast cancer has been largely associated with females; since, as the name implies the disease is related to a cancerous development in the breast tissue. However, the condition is not limited to just women, and a small percentage of men can also be diagnosed with breast cancer. The cancer can form due to mutations in specific genes that you have inherited from any of your parents. Another reason may be the higher level of female hormones in a male person. Furthermore, the condition is worse in men since the symptoms are disregarded by men at the beginning which delays the diagnosis.
Despite the patient being healed with a proper treatment, there is a lot to handle even after cancer has been eliminated. He will forever have the scars, physical and emotional, of the pain he went through. The survivor may be exposed to depression due to the surgery requiring your infected nipple to be eliminated. Since cancer develops due to the imbalance in hormones, the medical healing process also requires a hormonal therapy. This can lead to impotency which may add up to depression. Weight gain is also common among people who have suffered through breast cancer, and the increase in weight can lead to further complication along with instability in mental health.
Although nearly 25% of cancer patients develop depression, there is no timeline from where you may start feeling depressed and when you will finally break free from it. However, it can be a very hard time for anyone when they are made aware of the problem. Depression can follow from then on, or it can occur despite you beating cancer and becoming a survivor.
When to Expect Depression: The fear of not healing, dying of cancer can be overwhelming, but this can be avoided by staying close to your friends and family more often.
How to overcome:
The more you occupy yourself with the people you love, the less time you spend on worrying about your treatment. If the doesn’t work in your favor, you would have contentment that you have invested your time in the right place.
2. When to Expect Depression:
If the depression occurs after the treatment, due to various side effects, then you would need professional help to help you get through that loss. The lack of sexual activity due to erectile dysfunction, or as a result of surgery can also cause depression in the patient.
How to overcome:
Your life partner can help you get through this by doing stuff that doesn’t involve the insertion process. This can happen through the aid of sex toys and you can both enjoy some way. On the other hand, impotency can be dealt with by adopting a child. This not only raises the confidence level of the but caring for a child can provide them with better emotional health.
3.When to Expect Depression:
If the depression has occurred during the time of the treatment, then that can become quite complicated. There are many patients who get disheartened by the disease and lose hope resulting in poor mental health.
How to overcome:
This situation can become complicated since there is no telling how the procedure will pan out. It could work in the favor of the patient, or it may fail to heal the patient. It is important that the sufferer is constantly communicating the doctor who is treating them. You must also know in detail about the surgery that is going to be performed upon you for the removal of the infected tissue. This will clear any confusion and will prepare the patient mentally for what the future may hold for them.
Diseases such as this have the capacity to shape someone’s life, irrespective of the person’s gender. Any person who is going through breast cancer can have trauma of losing a part of their body or their life. Choosing life over a body part may look easy to any average person; however, it is a difficult process for the sufferer. Therefore, the people around the patient must always be supportive, caring and understand that what the patient is going through is a delicate situation. Only then can we prevent the patient from being depressed on any stage of the disease.
Author Bio:
Sherley Alaba is an eagle-eyed wordsmith; a writer, always interested in ways which can help individuals reach their full creative potential. Her focus has been on writing, producing and editing stories on health and lifestyle. Currently she is associated as a blogger with Centra Care Florida, providing best urgent care in Tampa.