Self-care strategies to deal with stress and anxiety following a breast cancer diagnosis
It’s common to feel stressed and anxious after a breast cancer diagnosis. Living Beyond Breast Cancer shared practical self-care strategies — like mindfulness, physical activity, and creative outlets — that can reduce anxiety, leading to less tension, better sleep, and more enjoyment with those you love.
Excerpts below appeared in a recent digital edition as 'Methods of self-care to deal with stress and anxiety’
Medical Review by Kauser Ahmed, PhD, Michael Baime, MD, Sage Bolte, PhD, LCSW, CST, Kathryn Tumelty, MSN, FNP-C, AOCNP
Get breast cancer information when you want it
Be direct with your healthcare team and loved ones about what you want to know. It’s also fine to tell them what you don’t want to know right now.
“Dr. Google,” while helpful, can also stress people out. Limit your screen time by searching for a specific topic for a set period instead of just browsing. If going online or reading books about cancer makes you tense, you can choose not to do it. When you want the information these resources provide, ask a trusted relative, a friend, or your care team for help. Always check what you find with your care team.
Many newly diagnosed people gain helpful information by hearing or reading about the experiences of others who have had breast cancer. But do not assume that what you read online is accurate or that your experiences will be exactly the same. People often share their personal opinions, and reading wrong information can cause unnecessary stress. Ask your doctor or nurse to verify what you’re reading. And if you are not sure about information or recommendations your team shares with you, consider getting a second opinion.
Safe places to talk
Even if you have loving and supportive friends and family, talking to someone outside your circle can be helpful.
Breast cancer support groups
Joining a support group can help with stress and anxiety, though it isn’t for everyone. Some people enjoy these groups, while others aren’t interested or don’t find them helpful. Support groups are often available through hospitals, cancer centers, in the community, by phone, and online.
When possible, pick a group run by a professional facilitator such as a social worker or counselor. This ensures someone with training will help you deal with emotions and triggers. Also consider if the group is open to drop-ins or closed so members must be screened to join.
One-on-one counseling
A licensed mental health professional can help you manage intense stress or anxiety. Even if you attend a support group, you may find extra benefit from private sessions with a professional. Mental health professionals include licensed psychotherapists, social workers, counselors, or psychiatrists. Some people find support through spiritual counselors or clergy. Many hospitals and cancer centers have social workers, psychologists, and other trained counselors experienced in working with people with breast cancer.
Seeking counseling does not mean you’re failing to cope. Asking for help is a sign of strength. Private counseling gives you time and space to focus on your concerns. While support groups involve members giving and receiving support to each other, in one-on-one counseling, the focus is entirely on supporting you.
Seeing a professional can help reduce anxiety and stress and help you live each day more fully. Mental health professionals can also tell the difference between the sadness you may feel from the life change of a breast cancer diagnosis and clinical depression.
Most people start with talk therapy, but if depression or anxiety affect your ability to function or find pleasure in daily life, your doctor can recommend medicine to take for a while. Your care team can refer you to a specialist who understands which anxiety or depression medicines can be taken with breast cancer treatments.
Social media communities
Social media allows you to connect with people all over the world, ask questions, and get support from anywhere you have access to the internet. In online communities, you can share as much or as little as you want.
Some social media communities can be broad, welcoming people with all kinds of cancer, like our closed Facebook group Breast Cancer Support: All Stages, All Ages. Others are narrow, focusing on a certain type of breast cancer, an age group, or a stage of disease, like our Breast Cancer Support for Young Women Facebook Group. You can find more groups by searching on Facebook or Google.
Other ways to take care of yourself
Good connections
You know who they are: the friends, family, neighbors, and co-workers who help you feel better and lower your stress. These are the people who are sincere when they ask, “How can I help?” Let them take on chores, keep you company at a doctor’s appointment, or be your walking buddy.
Not everyone in your life will fit this category. But you may also find that your list of positive connections has grown to include new people since diagnosis.
Exercise
Being physically active brings benefits, whether you go for a walk, take a dance class, or lift light weights. Movement strengthens your body, helps banish tension, and can lift your spirit. Exercise also lets you connect with others in ways unrelated to cancer.
People diagnosed with breast cancer do all types of exercise, from easy workouts to walking to dancing to competitive sports. Even if you have lymphedema, a potential side effect of surgery, you can stay active. Check with your care team about which types of exercise interest you and find out any medical reasons to choose other activities instead.
Spirituality
Many women draw strength from their religious or spiritual beliefs. Prayer and meditation can be powerful solutions to stress. You may choose to use them on your own or as part of a faith or spiritual community. Talking with a compassionate minister, priest, rabbi, or other clergy or with a pastoral care counselor can sustain you.
With a breast cancer diagnosis, some find themselves facing the subject of their own mortality for the first time. Spirituality can provide support for navigating these thoughts.
Relaxation techniques
Breathing techniques taught in yoga, meditation, and mindfulness practices help reduce stress. Deep breathing is effective and simple to do when you feel anxious. Here is a simple technique you can try:
As you inhale, inflate your abdomen if you are able
Hold for a few seconds
Exhale fully, using your abdominal muscles to push out all the breath (talk with your doctor first if you had surgery that affects these muscles)
Mental imagery and creative visualization help some women relax and feel more in control. Sit in a quiet place and think about a lovely spot, such as a beach at sunset, or a special place that makes you feel safe and comforted. Go to that place in your mind, feeling the breeze on your arms or sensations you have at that special place.
Try massage therapy and other body work to relax. Look for someone trained in working with people affected by cancer.
Mindfulness
Mindfulness helps you reconnect with the sources of strength, balance, and peace that practitioners of this technique believe are already within you. Through mindfulness skills, you learn to distance yourself from thoughts, emotions, and reactions that lead you to feel out of control. Instead, you refocus on simple moments in the present and discover that right now, in this moment, you are okay.
Creative arts
Expressing yourself through art can lift your spirits and release stress. Choose an art you love or want to try: singing, playing an instrument, making a video or film, dancing, acting, painting, or crafting. Write in private journals or on blogs.
Lower stress by enjoying concerts, theater, and museums. Even listening to music or watching a good movie at home can relax you.
For additional self-care strategies, read the entire article.
