{"id":131545,"date":"2024-11-29T22:04:01","date_gmt":"2024-11-29T15:04:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/?p=131545"},"modified":"2024-11-29T22:04:01","modified_gmt":"2024-11-29T15:04:01","slug":"depression-affects-a-third-of-cancer-patients-experts-say-its-one-of-the-biggest-gaps-in-oncology","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/?p=131545","title":{"rendered":"Depression affects a third of cancer patients. Experts say it\u2019s one of the biggest gaps in oncology"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"fluid\"\r\n     data-ad-layout-key=\"-fb+5w+4e-db+86\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"7910942971\"><\/ins>\r\n<script>\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p class=\"\">Simone Webster always struggled with her emotions and mood swings. But the floodgates really opened last year when she was diagnosed with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/health\/health-news\/breast-cancer-rising-younger-women-asian-americans-report-finds-rcna173287\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">breast cancer<\/a> at 31 years old. \u201cThere must have been something I did,\u201d said Webster, her eyes watery. \u201cWhat did I do to cause this?\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">The depression came in waves, a deep hopelessness overwhelming Webster, now 33, and making her feel like she needed to escape reality. \u201cThere\u2019s so much you lose,\u201d Webster said, including her right breast, her boyfriend and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/health\/cancer\/young-people-cancer-navigate-dating-fertility-health-rcna89106\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">her chance of having kids<\/a>. \u201cIt feels really dumb to feel hopeful.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">About a <a href=\"https:\/\/pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/articles\/PMC7214708\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">third of cancer patients<\/a> struggle with depression, anxiety and other psychiatric disorders, although these conditions often go undetected and undiagnosed. Kristin Kilbourn, a clinical psychologist at the University of Colorado Denver, said oncologists often don\u2019t want to open up this \u201ccan of worms,\u201d not to mention that mental health has long been deprioritized, with health care centers <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2022\/10\/04\/opinion\/us-mental-health-community-centers.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">losing money<\/a> caring for psychiatric patients.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">But this neglect comes at a significant cost, with mortality rates <a href=\"https:\/\/pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/19753617\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">up to 39% higher<\/a> among cancer patients with depression when compared to those without mental illness. Research also shows that the risk of suicide <a href=\"https:\/\/pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/22475594\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">is 13 times higher<\/a> in the week following a cancer diagnosis \u2014\u00a0and three times the average even a year later.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">As Webster knows well, cancer\u2019s toll isn\u2019t limited to the body; it wages war on the mind too. While physicians and cancer centers have slowly increased mental health services, it\u2019s often up to patients to fill in gaps in care by advocating for themselves and proactively seeking out mental health support.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"styles_inlineImage__yAWZ0 styles_medium__OMa6x styles_portrait__NRWbO\"><picture class=\"styles_image__1qciH\" data-testid=\"picture\"><source media=\"(min-width: 1000px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/media-cldnry.s-nbcnews.com\/image\/upload\/t_fit-560w,f_avif,q_auto:eco,dpr_2\/rockcms\/2024-11\/241122-simone-ch-1132-f1afb3.jpg 2x, https:\/\/media-cldnry.s-nbcnews.com\/image\/upload\/t_fit-560w,f_auto,q_auto:best\/rockcms\/2024-11\/241122-simone-ch-1132-f1afb3.jpg 1x\"\/><source media=\"(min-width: 320px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/media-cldnry.s-nbcnews.com\/image\/upload\/t_fit-760w,f_avif,q_auto:eco,dpr_2\/rockcms\/2024-11\/241122-simone-ch-1132-f1afb3.jpg 2x, https:\/\/media-cldnry.s-nbcnews.com\/image\/upload\/t_fit-760w,f_auto,q_auto:best\/rockcms\/2024-11\/241122-simone-ch-1132-f1afb3.jpg 1x\"\/><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/media-cldnry.s-nbcnews.com\/image\/upload\/t_fit-760w,f_auto,q_auto:best\/rockcms\/2024-11\/241122-simone-ch-1132-f1afb3.jpg\" alt=\"Simone Webster.\" height=\"2500\" width=\"1667\"\/><\/picture><figcaption class=\"caption styles_caption__Pe5JC\" data-testid=\"caption\"><span class=\"caption__container\" data-testid=\"caption__container\">\u201cThere\u2019s so much you lose,\u201d Webster said, including her right breast, her boyfriend and her chance of having kids.<\/span><span class=\"caption__source\" data-testid=\"caption__source\">Kyna Uwaeme for NBC News<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"\">\u201cYour oncologist is not going to identify your mood swings for you,\u201d Webster, of Washington, D.C., said. \u201cThey don\u2019t know if you\u2019re having suicidal ideation or depressed unless you tell them.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"\"><strong>How are cancer and mental illness linked<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p class=\"\">Fear and sadness are normal reactions to a cancer diagnosis, said Dr. Santosh Rao, an oncologist at University Hospitals in Cleveland, but clinical depression and anxiety are distinct. \u201cIt\u2019s having a lack of interest in the things you like, changes in sleep patterns and food, potentially panic attacks\u201d over a prolonged period and with a significant impact on daily life, he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">Cancer can both aggravate and precipitate mental illness. In a 2023 <a href=\"https:\/\/pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/36800552\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">study of 230,000 patients<\/a>, 10% of people had depression or anxiety before their cancer diagnosis, and 22% were diagnosed afterward. New cases were most common among those with metastatic disease.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">This connection is often brought on by the psychological stress of a new cancer diagnosis, the existential dread of facing death, and the strain this disease places on relationships. \u201cCancer sometimes will bring people closer together, but a lot of times it\u2019ll actually exacerbate already frayed relationships,\u201d Rao said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">Other drivers are the direct effects of cancer and the side effects of treatment, said Dr. Zev Nakamura, a psychiatrist at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Uncontrolled pain, for example, can make people quit everyday activities and have trouble sleeping. Similarly, hormone-blocking drugs, which are commonly used for prostate and breast cancer, can contribute to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cancer.gov\/about-cancer\/treatment\/types\/hormone-therapy\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">fatigue and mood changes<\/a>, while cancer surgeries can profoundly affect one\u2019s body image and sense of self. These can range from losing one\u2019s ovaries and uterus in a total hysterectomy to needing to use a colostomy bag to collect waste.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"fluid\"\r\n     data-ad-layout-key=\"-fb+5w+4e-db+86\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"7910942971\"><\/ins>\r\n<script>\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script><br \/>\n<br \/><div data-type=\"_mgwidget\" data-widget-id=\"1660802\">\r\n<\/div>\r\n<script>(function(w,q){w[q]=w[q]||[];w[q].push([\"_mgc.load\"])})(window,\"_mgq\");\r\n<\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/health\/cancer\/depression-cancer-patients-oncology-gap-anxiety-rcna179852\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Simone Webster always struggled with her emotions and mood swings. But the floodgates really opened last year when she was diagnosed with breast cancer at 31 years old. \u201cThere must &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/?p=131545\" class=\"more-link\">Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-131545","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-health","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/131545","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=131545"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/131545\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=131545"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=131545"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=131545"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}