Breast Cancer – Psychosocial Health

Transcript

One component of helping you maximize the quality of your life and the productivity when you’re staying on top of and controlling your metastatic stage four cancer is obviously psychological and emotional health. Please do not be shy about talking to your oncologist if you’re experiencing depression, for example, that’s really keeping you from having the will or desire to maximize your day. There are several antidepressants, each with different side effect profiles, that can help you in this process. And I don’t like to call it “antidepressant.” They just help normalize your regulation or mood because of obviously the stressors that you have, both physiologically from the cancer and chemo, as well as the emotional component.

Additionally, it is recommended in NCCN, which are guidelines in cancer, to give stimulants when patients are experiencing profound fatigue, either from their therapy or their cancer itself. This, again, helps people be engaged and be able to be more active and productive in their day while they’re living with an incurable cancer.