MAR - Cancer and Anxiety
Cancer is characterized by a loss of cellular control on the physical level; it follows that it is natural to experience a loss of control on the psychological level resulting in anxiety. Receiving a cancer diagnosis and needing to undergo cancer treatment prompts a high degree of emotional distress and can have negative implications for psychological health, can cause serious and or unpleasant side effects and may also adversely affect quality of life.1 For most patients, cancer means facing uncertainty, worries about cancer treatment effectiveness, fear of cancer progression and death, guilt, and spiritual questioning. This anxiety may be experienced in a variety of ways. A survey of 913 patients with cancer found that 94% experienced one or more of the following quality of life and psychological symptoms: fatigue (78%), anxiety (77%), depression (59%) and sleep disturbance (55%).2
