Feelings of sadness, fear, and worry are natural after learning you have cancer. During treatment, it is equally necessary to be mentally healthy since depression, insomnia, anxiety, or mood changes can hinder recovery. This is what you can do to improve your inpatient behavioral health when battling cancer:
Physical Activity
Physically active Cancer survivors are less likely to be depressed. Exercise can reduce fatigue during treatment, as well. Adding physical activity/exercise to your daily routine doesn’t take a lot of efforts. Following a well-designed exercise plan during & after treatment may help people living with or beyond cancer stay physically active.
Increasing muscle mass can help improve your balance. Exercising during cancer treatment improves QOL and reduces side effects. Problems with cognition can negatively impact mental and physical health.
Healthy Eating
Getting surgery changes a few things such as food intake, separating fluids from meals, and so on. Your appetite can be affected by cancer or cancer treatment. You need energy, so make sure that you get enough calories.
Lean protein, vegetables, and raw fruit can also improve muscle strength and happiness. We eat unhealthy foods more often when we’re depressed. In my opinion, this is true, so let’s examine which of these came first; the unhealthy diet or the depression.
Communication
The social, psychological, and contextual factors influence the individual in various ways. Staying in touch with your family & friends during cancer treatment is important. Be aware of how your relationship with a specific family member might change. This will ensure that your illness or treatment does not adversely affect your emotional well-being or burden. Also, your partner should know all about your diagnosis. It can be difficult for them to care for someone who is undergoing cancer treatment. Keep communication open so that each of you can be each other’s emotional support.
Discuss The Matter
Sometimes, it helps to share your experiences. Feel free to confide in a support group, your doctor, or your friends. Finding a good therapist might help in oncology procedures. Your health-care team, or a friend, might find it helpful for you to reflect on your feelings about your diagnosis by talking to your kids or someone else in the family. If your doctor says you’re in remission, there are lots of things you can do. When cancer occurs, patients and their friends and family members receive spiritual support.
Don’t Fake It
Sometimes we pretend to be happy, even if we aren’t. Also, the culture teaches cancer patients to keep a positive attitude and not be scared. Pretending to be happy doesn’t help to fight against cancer. It is best to acknowledge an awkward situation rather than pretend it does not exist. Feel free to express yourself and whatever is on your mind, regardless of someone seeing this as a negative thing or not. It is perfectly okay to feel angry and refuse to pretend that everything is alright. A good amount of anger can motivate you to do something.
Focus Your Mind
A patient’s mental and emotional state can be affected by a cancer diagnosis and treatment. Meditation has helped to ease pain, anxiety, and depression. Meditation has helped some cancer patients get over their worries, feel less stressed, sleep better, and feel better, even if they’re not taking their drugs. Using imagery, pictures, videos, or past experiences, you can locate a place of calmness within yourself.
Summary
It’s not easy dealing with the side effects of cancer treatments. A cancer diagnosis can have a psychological impact on patients, their families, and caregivers. Follow these important tips to offset the stress, anxiety, and depression during this life-changing experience. Last but not least, never try to suffer alone. We can’t stress the importance of getting help to manage these changes enough. You can also read more on this guide to taking care of your mental health.