How to deal with Scanxiety
People who are suffering from or diagnosed with breast cancer often struggle with intense feelings of fear, stress, and anxiety. These emotions negatively impact the sufferer's quality of life. As a person’s life is interrupted by panic and anxiety, relationships may suffer, and a career can also be affected. According to the world health organization, Cancer is a leading cause of death worldwide with an estimated 14.1 million new cancer cases and 8.2 million cancer-related deaths.
So, we say people who have cancer may find the physical, emotional, and social effects of the disease to be stressful because they may take many kinds of medications, surgeries, and therapies. It has been observed that about 30-40% who are getting scan therapies suffer from scanxiety.
Scanxiety is the feeling to feel stress or worry in the period before a medical test, during the test, and while waiting for test results. This article will help you to find ways how to deal with this condition.
Causes of scanxiety:
Unfortunately, scans are an essential part of breast cancer treatment. In some people, anxiety or stress begins as soon as a scan is recommended or when it is scheduled. People feel having trouble eating and sleeping or they may seem moody or simply feel out of control. Its symptoms include increased heart rate, irritability, sweaty palms, and nausea before a scan. And any symptoms a person experiences before a scan quickly cause fear about cancer recurrence. Other people find the scans themselves very difficult and experience feelings of claustrophobia during the scan or sensitivity to drinking contrast or having a needle placed into a vein.
The main reason it is common for people to experience scan-xiety is that many of them may have experienced negative results from earlier scans. They remember those experiences, and those memories lead to feelings of insecurity, anxiety, and helplessness.
6 Ways to manage scan-xiety:
Some of the tips to manage scan-xiety are:
Acknowledge your feelings.
Learn how your body reacts
Distract yourself.
Meditation. ( we love TDC for these )
Join a support group.
Plan to get your test results.
Acknowledge your feelings:
This step involves:
Recognize the issue you are suffering
Accept yourself despite the problems and issues
The first thing that you should do is to accept the way you are. It means to acknowledge each part of yourself unconditionally, deeply, totally, and without exception.
It is ok to feel scared or angry. You could get diminutive with individuals. You may be more sorrowful than expected. You may be somebody who shuts down. Just acknowledge what’s going on, take it for what it is and try to be gentle with yourself. It helps to give you confidence in yourself and makes you feel less vulnerable to criticism.
Learn how your body reacts:
Just give yourself time and recognize how your body reacts to scan-xiety because it helps a lot to understand your stress response. Faster breathing, headaches, and muscle pains all are symptoms of stress, and understanding those connections can give you a better understanding of how to regulate the tension when it occurs. When you completely understand it just tries to take medications, therapies, or consult a doctor according to the feelings you experience.
Distract yourself:
According to Cognitive behaviorists, adding pleasurable activity per day can have a huge impact on mindset and mood. Do the things that you like, go outside, watch movies, do some cooking or any of the hobbies you have or the things you like. Because through this you think about other things instead of worrying about the disease you have. If you don’t have time for these activities, then just try to feel happiness in small things.
Appreciating the simple pleasures in everyday routine can also enrich and make your life wholesome. Life is a collection of happy memories and small moments. Today in our world, we often attach happiness to only material things or big life events, but it also lives in the simplest of things. So, just try to feel pleasure in every moment it helps you a lot to cope with any situation and keeps you satisfied and refreshed.
Try meditation:
Meditation is the way to train your mind against depression, fatigue, anxiety, and stress. Because it can restore your calm and inner peace. During meditation, you focus and eliminate the thoughts that are disturbing your mind and causing uneasiness and stress. This process enhanced your physical and emotional well-being and helps you to lead a happier life. But it doesn’t mean you clear your mind just after the first attempt. It requires some time and little practice.
Join a support group:
There are both face-to-face and online choices to accommodate your timetable and preference. Conversing with other people who get what you're going through can be very useful! Ask your Abramson Cancer Center social laborer for a reference or check the Cancer Support Community schedule for upcoming exercises and activities.
Plan to get your test results:
Another thing that might help you is to have a plan for getting your test results. Presently with electronic clinical records, scan results can be posted automatically on your electronic clinical entry, here and there even before your clinical group has evaluated them. Seeing these outcomes without consulting doctors can lead to increased worry and anxiety.
Ask your consideration group when to expect the outcomes, who will convey them to you, and how they will be conveyed, for example, by telephone, or on a patient portal. This knowledge is very empowering and can help you a lot to manage the uncertainty while you are anticipating your test results.
For women who have had a breast cancer diagnosis, undergoing imaging scans can lead to scan-xiety. it is the condition in which you feel anxious due to scans. today there is hardly any cancer treatment that does not involve a scan. so, you must face it. But there are some ways like meditation, your feelings acknowledgment, and support groups that help you to get rid of this situation.
Remember: this post is for informational purposes only and may not be the best fit for you and your personal situation. It shall not be construed as medical advice. The information and education provided here is not intended or implied to supplement or replace professional medical treatment, advice, and/or diagnosis. Always check with your own physician or medical professional before trying or implementing any information read here.