Lots of People Living With Cancer Experience Depression
If you’ve experienced depression during cancer treatment, you’re not alone. Up to 25 % of cancer patients/survivors experience a major depression, with a much greater percentage experiencing lower levels of depression.
Why Is It So Hard to Talk About?
One of the reasons depression is difficult to talk about because of the stigma. We have been trained to think that if someone has depression, there is something wrong with them…that they are weak or too sensitive, or somehow incapable. So no one really talks about it, and then when we do, it’s like we’re admitting to a deep, dark, yucky secret about ourselves.
We Need to Stop the Stigma
If the stigma about depression continues, then we continue to stigmatize ourselves when we experience depression…and that just makes everything worse. Then not only are we depressed, but we also feel somehow “less than” everyone else.
Here’s the Real Deal…
If you were to ask around (and I have) you would find out that a significant percentage of people in the general population, even those who have not had a life-threatening illness, have had some level of depression at some time in their lives. I was depressed throughout most of my treatment and beyond. I can’t tell you how many cancer patients/survivors I’ve talked to who admit they have depression and they think they’re the only ones. When they admit it in a group, they find numerous others saying, “Me too!” I once admitted in a group meeting that I was experiencing depression and about 80% of the people in the room admitted that they had had some form of depression within the last year.
What You Can Do
Change your mind about depression. If you experience depression, acknowledge that you’re not alone. Decide to believe that there’s nothing wrong with you. Depression doesn’t say anything about you as a person, it doesn’t mean anything in particular about you. It just says you have a problem that needs to be addressed. It doesn’t mean you’re less able, less competent, less smart, less anything than anyone else. There have been plenty of extremely intelligent capable, successful people who have had depression. If you have not had depression, you’ve likely known someone who has. You can fight the stigma by first changing your own beliefs about depression.
When you are going through treatment, it pretty much makes sense that you would be depressed. You are facing your mortality and the possibility of suffering. You are forced to engage in a battle you never wanted to take up. That’s about as depressing as it gets. But that doesn’t mean that there aren’t things that can help you, because there are.
Get support. If support means family and friends, and that kind of support works for you, fine. If more formal support like a support group or peer-to-peer program are helpful to you, great. Many people (like me) found it necessary to get professional support to learn strategies to manage depression and other natural feelings/experiences that go along with cancer. Find something that works for you. But help is available, so please don’t go it alone.
I’d love to hear your thoughts about this! If commenting on this post is too public for you, you’re welcome to email me.
Like what you see in this blog? Sign up for my newsletter! In addition to getting the article before it posts on the blog, you will also get inspirational quotes, self-care tips, and information about services and upcoming events. Just fill in your name and email in the green box at the top right of this page to receive the “Coping With Cancer” eNewsletter every other week, as well as a free eWorkbook, “10 Ways to Make Cancer Suck Less.”
Photo Credit: Dawn Pelletier Stratton
Thank you for covering this topic so honestly! I got depressed during my chemo and my oncologist put me on an anti-depressant for about a year to help me get through it. Having cancer, not matter what the age (though I think it must affect us a little differently when we’re still young and raising children) is such a life-changing event, and only other people who have heard those words, “You have cancer,” can truly understand the mind-numbing, heart-shattering impact. I’m so grateful to be alive and have learned not to take even one day for granted, but mentally I am forever “scarred.”
Hi Katy,
I agree…others who have heard those words can understand the impact more fully. And I hear you…you recognize the effect cancer has had on your life at the same time as appreciating each day. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
Dawn
I have had a fair amount of depression in my life. Oddly enough, I was not unusually depressed when I was diagnosed and treated for breast cancer. I suspect that was partly because breast cancer is an accepted diagnosis and people commiserate with it. That is not as true with depression.
However, breast cancer certainly is cause for depression, what with it being a life-threatening disease and all. Thank you for a good article.
Hi Lois,
I have known others like you as well, who were not depressed during their cancer journey, although they were at other times in their lives. Everyone is so unique. Thanks for your thoughts on this.
Dawn
The cancer center where my mother and sister went had a wonderful social worker on staff who also was a registered nurse and a Reiki master! Both my mother and sister were treated for depression and anxiety by their oncologist. They both also went to the social worker and had body work done with Reiki and acupuncture. We were blessed to have found a center that incorporated complimentary (or what some would consider alternative medicines)in with the treatment programs.
Pretty cool to have a nurse who’s also a Reiki master! Glad to hear your mother and sister were able to get treatment on a number of levels for depression and anxiety…awesome that their center used complementary practices. Thanks for sharing this.