Cancer Survivors Struggle With Mental Related Issues

Diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma at 15, Taylor found the stresses of adolescence from body image to social interaction were compounded exponentially by her illness.

When she returned to her Uxbridge high school without hair after chemo, Taylor found no one, not even her friends, would speak to her. 

“I didn’t know if it was because they were embarrassed or they didn’t know how to act,” Taylor said. “My teachers were saying people were actually scared of me and thought I was contagious. It made my confidence level go way down.”

She started experiencing recurring breakdowns. Eventually she was diagnosed with anxiety and depression, was prescribed medication and started seeing a therapist. 

Taylor, now 16, has been cancer-free since September 2016, but the mental and emotional anguish remains. 

“I still don’t have hair. I wear a wig,” she said. “I still always compare myself to other girls. I wish I looked like them. I just beat myself up basically.”

Cancer’s physical toll is well documented.

The Canadian Cancer Society estimates about 40 per cent of Canadians will be diagnosed with some form of the disease in their lifetime. 

On average, over 550 Canadians are diagnosed each day.

An enormous number of them will undergo mental and emotional strain.

Whether it’s due to treatment side effects, uncertainty about the future, a disrupted work life, social isolation, or confronting one’s own mortality, there’s a wide array of reasons a cancer patient may begin to feel anxious or depressed. 

“It’s is a highly distressing experience,” said Dr. Gary Rodin, a psychiatrist who leads the Supportive Care department at Princess Margaret Cancer Centre.

“People are afraid of suffering, they’re afraid that the cancer might take their life. A lot of them are afraid of being dependent on people.”

Rodin is part of a field known as psychosocial oncology identifying and treating the mental, emotional and social impacts of cancer. 

Many cancer patients will experience mental health symptoms though relatively few will actually be diagnosed with a full mental health disorder, said Dr. Elie Isenberg-Grzeda, a psychiatrist at Sunnybrook hospital’s Odette Cancer Centre. That does not mean they cannot or should not receive mental health treatment, he added. 

“I try not to get too hung up on the psychiatric diagnostic (terminology),” said Isenberg-Grzeda. “If somebody is experiencing anxiety or depression as a symptom then we’ll probably file it under the umbrella of ‘distress,’ and my job becomes figuring out ... how to treat it.”

Claire Edmonds is a psychotherapist who has specialized in treating cancer patients for over 20 years.

In 2015, she was diagnosed with breast cancer, went CONTINUE READING

CREDIT: THE STAR