Health

How Cancer Affects a Person’s Mental Well-Being?

Published

11 months ago

November 12, 2022

Do you know over 8.4 million American adults act as caregivers and advisors for individuals with mental conditions?

Life can be an uncertain balancing act, with the balance rendered imbalanced in many ways— losing a job, getting divorced, losing a close family member, or getting diagnosed with cancer. All these can significantly lead to mental health problems. According to psychologists, cognitive disruption can be more painful than physical health. If you talk about cancer, it is a slow and gradual cessation that leads to severe side effects and different types of damage to your body. But apart from the physical disruption, it impacts your mental well-being too. Something most people never talk about out of fear. It can lead to various mood disorders like depression, anxiety, impairment in cognitive functioning, and low self-esteem.

A cancer diagnosis affects not only the individual but also their families, friends, and caregivers, psychologically and physiologically.

Mental health and depression

Feelings of fear, anxiety, and restlessness are signs of a possible mental health concern. Distress is another uncertain emotion that makes you feel unpleasant. It can affect how you act and think, making it a hurdle for patients to cope with cancer. Well, depression is a significant mood disorder common among people, especially those dealing with cancer. According to doctors, psychological care is more critical than physical care for cancer patients. Without it, patients become frustrated and impulsive, consequently making their treatment difficult.

According to a study, cancer patients with depression are twice as likely to pass away earlier than those who are not. When stress levels increase, your body induces a specific response known as “Fight or Flight.” Either you fight with what you are feeling and try to cope with it, or you ignore it. Sometimes the situation can get uncontrollable. The side effects of cancer and depression can feed each other, aggravating the problem further because both are correlated.

Suicide and Cancer

Patients diagnosed with cancer have a four times higher rate of suicides than the general population. The feelings of uncertainty, hopelessness, anger, impulsivity, loneliness, stress, and lack of social support can agitate an individual negatively, leading to an increased risk of suicide.

Daily Chores

Imagine a life of a regular person who is well and fit. One day he wakes up and vomits blood, and the doctor diagnoses him with cancer. Do you think his life will be the same again? He won’t be able to sleep properly, wake up with stress only to feel a relentless wave of anxiety all over his head, and speculate all day long over his hopelessness. What will happen to his family? Who will provide for them? The mind will keep ruminating with distressing thoughts imagining the worst-case scenarios with no sign of respite. Indeed, dealing with cancer can wreck your mental health and take away all peace and happiness from your life. This affects your daily work, chores, and relationships with friends, family, and colleagues.

Take Care of Yourself

The first thing you need to do is take an active part in cancer treatment. This requires thoroughly following your treatment plans and working on improving outcomes, eventually leading to self-satisfaction.

Seeking professional help through therapy and counseling is also essential. You can either go to a psychologist, a mental health professional, or a social worker who specializes in supporting cancer patients. You can speak about how you feel and try to overcome your fears by learning scientifically-proven ways of coping with such an issue and implementing them. For medications, you can consult a psychiatrist.

Despite the ensuing stress making it difficult for a cancer patient to think rationally, mind-body therapies play a crucial role in overall health. Meditation, yoga, jogging, walking, and exercising can help increase the levels of a hormone known as endorphin in your body that boosts your happiness levels, benefiting your body and soul. Such activities will keep mood swings at bay, making it easier to cope with insomnia. It will also help reduce anxiety and stress, allowing you to relax.

Conclusion

Being diagnosed with cancer isn’t news that people would enjoy hearing. However, it is still important to accept the distressing and life-threatening disease as a reality once diagnosed and work towards improving your life, psychologically and physiologically. Taking care of yourself should be the top priority, requiring quality sleep, exercise, and a well-balanced diet. Doctors must prioritize the mental health of the survivors as well rather than just focusing on the physical one. The mind and body have a strong bond and need to be balanced.

If you have cancer or look after a loved one diagnosed with this dreadful disease, then Never Let Go is an excellent narrative full of suspense and entertainment with a story about a cancer survivor. The plot reveals how cancer impacts the cancer survivor’s mental well-being and that of his friends and family. The book offers fantastic insights and coping techniques to deal with such a situation. Grab your copy today and experience a true story full of inspiration.

Health

What Interferes with Successful Breastfeeding?

Published

3 weeks ago

September 5, 2023

Michelle Langton

While breastfeeding is ideal, it comes with many difficulties new parents might face.

After experiencing the intensity of labor and delivery, many new parents are left exhausted. Despite this fatigue and surviving pospartum, new parents soon learn the importance of managing the needs of an infant. Putting aside their own desires, parents learn to quickly adapt.

Exhaustion and recovery are not the only things that discourage parents from breastfeeding. There are a variety of other woes that can make it difficult for a lactating parent to continue to choose this option.

While 83 percent of women breastfeed at the beginning of postpartum, there is a drastic reduction by 6 months, resulting in only 56% of babies still being breastfed.

Engorged Breasts

When a lactating woman’s milk comes in, she may experience intense pain and discomfort. The breasts typically become overly filled with milk because they have not yet regulated their supply. This engorgement can continue throughout the breastfeeding journey for a variety of reasons.

If the baby’s schedule changes, a woman’s breasts can become overly full. If the parent misses a feeding, breasts can experience discomfor which can lead to breastfeeding infection. If a woman becomes preoccupied at work and does not make time to pump, she can experience discomfort.

If breast engorgement is not treated properly, milk ducts can become blocked, and if a woman does not work to move the milk through her breasts (via feeding her baby, pumping, or expressing the milk), this engorgement can lead to further problems and may cause clogged milk ducts.

Infection

One of the biggest concerns beyond the pain a woman experiences with engorgement is infection. This is known as mastitis, and leads to a woman experiencing not only breast pain and warm breast tissue, but also flu-like symptoms that come with fever, chills, headache, and further exhaustion.

In order to help prevent infection, regular feedings are essential. Often, the best mastitis treatment, at least for early symptoms, is to massage the breast in a warm shower and express the extra milk.

Furthermore, by working with an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC), parents can have a great resource on how to best deal with, treat, and alleviate these problems.

Not only is an IBCLC a great resource in helping prevent breast infection, but a great source for your breastfeeding journey to encourage and educate you in best practices.

The best way to achieve breastfeeding success is to utilize the many tools that an IBCLC offers.

Burnout

To exclusively breastfeed your baby can be quite overwhelming and exhausting. Between nightly feedings, cluster feedings, and pumping sessions for working mothers, breastfeeding is difficult to maintain. Unless a woman is properly supported by her family, friends, and workplace, the chances that a woman will continue to breastfeed are significantly impacted.

Culture also impacts the likelihood of a baby being breastfed beyond 6 months. The CDC discovered that parents in the Southeast United States are less likely to breastfeed their children past six months. This was in contrast to the Northwest, where business policies and the culture is more breastfeeding-friendly and supportive.

Conclusion

Despite the nutritional benefits afforded to a breastfed baby, there are many obstacles that can be discouraging for parents on their breastfeeding journey. From exhaustion to pain to lack of supoort, parents have many reasons to give up.

To increase your chances of success, surround yourself with supportive individuals, reach out to an IBCLC, also known as lactation consultants, and gain the necessary tools required to provide your child with the healthiest option available – you!