Breast cancer has negative consequences on physical health in addition to having negative effects on psychological well-being. Stressful changes in feelings, thoughts, and relationships with oneself and with others due to breast cancer diagnosis, treatment and survivorship might overwhelm a patient. It is equally important to know how breast cancer interferes with mental health and how one might handle this to avoid feeling overwhelmed all the time.

Living with the Feeling of Breast Cancer

If you are told a sentence like `You have been diagnosed with breast cancer’, then you might find that the ground has been pulled from under your feet. If you have ever heard of breast cancer, either directly or from someone related to you, how did you feel? Awareness of your feelings, therefore, is the first step towards regulating these feelings. The initial symptoms that are mostly realised include fear, anxiety, anger, and sadness. These are normal emotions caused by the lack of control over the future, a change in an individual’s health, and the prospect of undergoing aggressive treatment.

Coping with breast cancer, particularly in the later stages, makes a woman depressed. These psychic burdens are made worse by the somatic symptoms such as fatigue, pain and change in body image that surgery entails.

Influence of Breast Cancer Treatment on Mental Health

The treatment is sometimes stressful and painful, including chemotherapy, radiation, surgery, and hormone therapy. Each of these treatments can impact mental health in unique ways:

Chemotherapy: Hematosuppression leads to fatigue, while nausea often results from changes in appetite and a metallic taste in the mouth. Last but not least is the “chemo brain,” where the patient’s head feels muddy and she feels disoriented. This can lead to frustration, and consequently, patients can be overwhelmed and experience emotional exhaustion.

Surgery: Lumpectomy or mastectomy changes the body; this can cause loss and affect self-esteem, which ultimately requires attention. That is why it is common to hear cases of women who suffer from problematic thoughts regarding their bodies after the surgery.

Hormone Therapy: Other treatments, such as tamoxifen, for example, will lead to side effects such as mood swings, depression and hot flashes, which will all impact the client’s emotional health.

Breast cancer hospital in Delhi, like Action Cancer Hospital, understand the overall mental status of patients, provide counselling services in hospitals. Along with the comprehensive treatment of breast cancer.

Cognitive and Behavioral Consequences of Breast Cancer

Apart from the physical side, breast cancer patients may have long-term psychosocial outcomes. These include:

Anxiety: The three areas that cause anxiety include the likelihood of the condition recurring, the effectiveness of treatment, and the side effects of treatments.

Depression: Dealing with the challenges and changes that come with it can sometimes bring frustration and even depression. All these are signs that ought to be acknowledged and management sought as early as possible.

Body Image Issues: Breast procedures, particularly mastectomy or reconstructive surgeries, have the potential to significantly change the feeling of a woman towards her body. Certain other non-physical complications fit under this category, and women think they are less attractive or feminine after the treatment.

Fear of Recurrence: After receiving treatment, most patients remain with a feeling of cancer recurrence, and this makes them very sensitive to their health.

We all have certain mental or emotional issues that we consider to be most important to us. It is important to recognise such feelings in order to seek forecasted ways to manage them.

Coping with the Mental Health Challenges of Breast Cancer

It is as important to learn how to deal with the impact of breast cancer on one’s mind as it is to learn how to deal with the physical symptoms of the disease. We have listed the following strategies to help you go through this difficult phase:

1. Talk About Your Feelings

Talking out your feelings can help you reduce stress and anxiety. Most hospitals that offer breast cancer treatment in Delhi have social liaisons and therapy sessions for this specific purpose.

2. Join a Support Group

Daily coping most often enables one to be with other persons facing a similar set of circumstances or challenges. Listening to their stories and telling them your own can help to build the sense of people being in the same boat and having an opportunity to know what they are going through. Breast cancer support groups in Delhi are numerous—in the offline world and on the Internet—and they can provide emotional support to a woman.

3. Use Relaxation and Mindfulness Exercise

Practical activities like breath control, meditation and other activities can ease stress; this makes your mind embowered in a positive emotion. The anxiety levels of a particularly stressed patient can be considerably minimised simply by following a recommendation to spend five to ten minutes a day meditating.

4. Stay Physically Active

Although in the process of the treatment for breast cancer, you may feel extremely tired, light exercises such as walking or practising yoga can help lift your spirits as well as fight any feelings of fatigue. It helps to release endorphins, also known as ‘feel good’ hormones, hence making it easier to maintain a balanced state of mind.

5. Seek Professional Help

In cases of anxiety, it is normal to look for professional help in such matters. Counsellors, psychologists and therapists who have skills, tools and medicine, if necessary, should be able to offer the management of anxiety or depression.

Final Thoughts

Breast cancer, as we all know, is so physically and emotionally draining, yet this is a journey you can make with companions. Mental health self-care is an important aspect of your treatment plan and the processes of healing. You and your family, friends, other caregivers, and even doctors and psychiatrists are always there to help you find the necessary strength to address the problems that lie ahead of you.

The good news for breast cancer patients residing in Delhi is that quality treatment is within their reach, and patients are not just treated for their disease but for their body and mind throughout the course of their treatment. Take things each day as they come, and most importantly, do not forget to take care of your mental health as you do your physical.