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Do not feel social
Is it normal to not want to be around people? While I enjoy being with friends and family I do not feel like being around people and having to say that it is fine when mentally I am not ok. I want to be alone to process all that is going on but my husband wants me to keep a positive attitude and he feels that being alone…
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Podcast: Cognitively-Based Compassion Training May Help Ease Stress
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Research News: ASCO Updates Guidelines on Managing Anxiety and Depression in Cancer Survivors
ASCO Updates Guidelines on Managing Anxiety and Depression in Cancer Survivors April 29, 2023 ASCO has released new guidelines to help doctors offer the most effective treatments for anxiety and depression after a cancer diagnosis. Read more…
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Should Licensed Professional Counselors be Avoided ?
Dear Breast Cancer Community: I am a 10 year survivor of breast cancer. I am also a Licensed Professional Counselor with over 20 years experience. As with all Licensed Professional Counselors/Mental Health Counselors, I am credentialed (licensed) by my state. My professional education, training, and experience are at least…
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Does therapy really help?
I feel I have hit a wall mentally. I am 4 years out , NED and on tamoxifen. I feel lost, I don’t have anyone I talk to on a serious level about my cancer experience. I was out with friends last night and they jokingly said they were going to make an online dating profile for me. I laughed it off and said dating feels…
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Anxiety
would seeing a therapist who specialized in cancer survivors help me get rid of anxiety. Meds don’t work. It’s 6 years. I feel terrible all the time, like I’m dying. I’m not dying now, will someday but want to stop it. i wake up with anxiety bd, then exercise it gets a little better by evening it is much better. it’s very…
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Nowhere to go on Thanksgiving or Christmas. Suggestions?
Hello friends. I spent the holidays with a close friend for many years, but he is not well, very reclusive this year, so we aren't spending the holidays together. I really don't have a family per se. Life has been emotionally challenging from the very day of my diagnosis, and circumstances like this don't help. Does anyone…
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Im not on a "journey" and Im not a "warrior." Who is with me?
No offense to those of you who see this as such, but I do not. I feel like that symbolism is tantamount to a quest for enlightenment and that is bullshit. It's hard not to bristle when people without this diagnosis assume that's who I am now. I was never that kind of person before, and I don't see myself becoming that kind…
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Journey vs Ordeal
I am wondering if anyone else gets annoyed when others refer to breast cancer treatment as a journey. A journey may be described as moving from one place to another. However an ordeal is defined as a horrific experience, often painful and protracted. For me it's an ordeal. It will forever take up rent in my mind.
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ER+, menopause, and severe depression
Good evening all, I had a stage III ER+ diagnosis in 2004, so incredibly fortunate to be 18 years' NED last February. Here's the thing, I refused oophorectomy because I was terrified about quality of life by going into instant menopause at age 35 after having extremely high estrogen since birth I guess. I spoke with a…
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For those of us with BMI over 35
Having a BMI over 40, and dealing with recurrence and family history of breast cancer makes me feel isolated. Out of my family members with BC, mom, and two sisters and a cousin, I am the only one in my family with BMI over 30. I feel those of us who are plus size don't fit in to many of the discussions here, especially…
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Podcast: Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder After a Cancer Diagnosis
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder After a Cancer Diagnosis December 19, 2018 For nearly 25 years, Kelly Grosklags has dedicated her practice to minimizing suffering through her work in oncology, palliative care and hospice. An experienced therapist, Kelly is a licensed clinical social worker and a board-certified diplomat in…
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Anxiety in the middle of the night, how to get past it?
Background - I think I know why this is happening ..... 3.5 years after diagnosis. The why is because a close friend just got diagnosed with a rare, lethal cancer, bile duct cancer. The stats are not good. He had an extensive surgery and is recovering but the long term outlook isn't good. I am scared for him and his wife,…
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Depression, anxiety and suicidal ideation
In May 2021 I was diagnosed with DCIS & subsequently had a lumpectomy. In 2009 at age 52 a complete hysterectomy was performed because there was a 25% chance I had uterine cancer. Instead of being relieved, I was furious. A week after the hysterectomy I experienced the most traumatic event of my life: I felt that another…
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Struggling
Today should be a good day. And for the most part it is. But I am struggling with anxiety and depression. I was diagnosed in May of 2021. I am done with all the treatments and I only have my exchange surgery left. I am on tamoxifen. But here lately fear keeps rising. Like today my knee hurts. I’m pretty sure I hurt is a…
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"Friend" calls and asks to be put in my will WTF
Who needs friends like that? Seriously, a drunk friend called and said she was broke and would I put her in my will.....since obviously she thinks I'm heading for my grave. I had Stage 1A, lumpectomy, clean nodes, radiation, Letrozole.....doing great life goes on. :) Career, life, health is going well! What the hell is…
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Why am I feeling like this?
Yesterday I had my follow up onco visit after my first CT after surgery and treatment. I am in remission. I am very grateful especially because I am a single mom to an 8 year old boy. It feels like I should be super excited and jumping over the moon, but I just feel nothing. Is this normal after this ordeal?
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Information vs. reassurance
I've been a member since 2018 here and in a kidney cancer FB group, which is where I found this. In both groups, I've seen such a wide range of emotional reactions to cancer diagnoses and even just the possibility of cancer before any confirmation, everything from unquestioning acceptance to curiosity to mild nervousness…
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Just Need to Vent
Sorry if it sounds like I am whining, but I really just need to vent and if the post rambles on I am sorry about that as well (chemo brain is not fun) I guess I really just need to vent to someone, anyone really. I am just so tire of pretending like everything is okay and my life does not feel as though it is imploding. I…
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Antidepressants please share your experience
Hello you all. I hope everyone is doing well. I have a question. I have never been a sad person. High anxiety at times but never sad or unable to enjoy life. Until now! Since a diagnosis in May I have struggled with sadness and depression and fear. I took anxiety pills as needed for a while but that did not really help the…
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Immediate Counseling Services?
I had a suspicious spot on a CT last week, so I am having another on Wednesday. I have been extremely anxious since I found out about needing another scan. I have scheduled a therapy appointment with a new counselor for next week, and my MO has called in an Ativan prescription for me. But I feel like I need to talk to a…
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New 10-episode podcast series with Dr Charlotte Tottman
Hi there, My name is Dr Charlotte Tottman. I am a Clinical Psychologist specialising in cancer-related distress. I also have my own lived experience of breast cancer. We launched my 10-episode podcast series, Upfront About Breast Cancer: What You Don't Know Until You Do with Dr Charlotte Tottman in October, 2021 with…
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Spiraling and irrational- other types of cancer
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Feeling so alone
I have been reading on this site for some time now but haven't really participated much, not really sure why other than maybe trying to protect myself a little as I don't have a lot of support and have been trying my best to get through all this on my own (telling myself I have to be strong not only for myself but for…
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Most women will get breast cancer, Its not a big deal anymore
Do I have this all wrong? I told a coworker and that was her reply. Is this no big deal and a walk in the park for most? Am I wrong for crying and being depressed at times? Has anyone else encountered this before?
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NYTimes: Mind and body form a two-way street
The Devastating Ways Depression and Anxiety Impact the Body Excerpt - “In studies that tracked how patients with breast cancer fared, for example, Dr. David Spiegel and his colleagues at Stanford University School of Medicine showed decades ago that women whose depression was easing lived longer than those whose depression…
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Stressing over recurrence
Hey yall! I'm 17 months from diagnosis. Stage 1A. Triple positive. Ki-67 55%. ATM mutation. BMX. Attempted chemo- allergic. Herceptin and now Tamox. Also, total hysterectomy. NED. Lately I find myself sort of obsessing over the possibility of a recurrence. I'm looking up stats, reading posts about recurrence here, and have…
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OMG They Found the Cure for Stupid
Yes it's true. There has been a new and miraculous cure discovered for stupidity!!!! Who would have thought....YIPPEE. I can now put it in an email and send it to all my stupid friends and relatives that have sent me emails about the latest cure for cancer. Yes it is a vegetable you have never eaten, a tea you can't stand…
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Cancer changes everything! anyone that kept living normal?
Maybe I just need to vent or maybe I'm just mad! But I feel like cancer has changed everything!!! I look to see if a lotion contains hormones, I am terrified to have a few glasses of wine, I'm scared to eat certain foods for fear of feeding the cancer. And trust me I ate healthy before cancer, I was never a big drinker,…
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Welcome to The Worry Bar
I'm doing an online Zoom MBSR (mindfulness-based stress reduction) class from gilda's club. Last week the class was about accepting thoughts vrs have an aversion to thoughts. That resonated with me and now I have a coping mechanism that is taking shape and seems to be reducing my scanxiety and FOR (fear of recurrence) When…