Breast Cancer & Mental Health
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 diagnosis of breast cancer 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 not only affect the quality of life of a breast cancer survivor but 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.
