world cancer day - Essay
world cancer day
In honour of world cancer day, I wrote an essay titled "I can and I will keep my mental health in check while battling cancer." It's an emotional piece where I wrote about the mental health of those suffering from cancer and gave it an empathetic point of view. While I was actually writing it, I used some online sources for information and even read about cancer survivor's testimonies about their experience. It was heartbreaking to see how much people have suffered because of this disease. Did I learn something? Yes, I did! I learnt how much of an impact cancer can have on the lives of people around you. It can be friends, families or even your doctors, each diagnosis changes people's lives drastically. Below I have attached a copy of the essay for those interested in reading it.
I can and I will keep my mental health in check while battling cancer.
When you think of cancer, you think of pain, death, suffering and several chemotherapy/radiation appointments. We see it from an outsider’s point of view. We often fail to acknowledge the inner demons a cancer patient suffers from. A cancer patient goes through so much pain that we can only dream of. Their future is uncertain, they cannot live in the moment. Some of them go months living in a hospital, with a longing to touch the outside world that they are barricaded from. And some attached to tubes all day long, tubes that remind them constantly of the suffering.
Anxiety comes within the territory. Afraid of what is awaiting them, their fate unknown, their minds quenched in fear, eyes sorrow full of tears. Awaiting what their test reports have to say, what that means for their well being, and most importantly, will they be given the privilege to live to see another sunrise. Constant distress is another issue most cancer patients are chained to. The unpleasantness of their diagnoses, the failure to cope up. It can bring up several unexplained attributes from the patient, often dreadful actions/emotions. However, the worst thing they can suffer from is nothing but depression. It’s normal to be saddened, to be in grief. But to be depressed can cause more harm than cancer itself sometimes. The symptoms can be too much burden on the patient and push them into the deep void.
Symptoms do show up and can be recognised, however, it can be too late sometimes. Mental health is considered taboo in society and is often unspoken about, so there are very few that even recognise it to be true. The lack of cancer patient’s access to proper therapists is surprisingly more common than you would think. Many patients don’t have the financial means to see a therapist and many patients go undiagnosed. To a cancer patient, treatment options such as radiation, chemotherapy, extensive surgeries are prioritised, but there should be one more treatment option to be prioritised and that is regular counselling for the patients and their family/loved ones.
Citations :
Nijboer, C., Triemstra, M., Tempelaar, R., Sanderman, R. and van den Bos, G.A.M. (1999), Determinants of caregiving experiences and mental health of partners of cancer patients. Cancer, 86: 577-588. https://doi.org/10.1002/(SICI)1097-0142(19990815)86:4<577::AID-CNCR6>3.0.CO;2-S
Nijboer, C., Tempelaar, R., Triemstra, M., van den Bos, G.A.M. and Sanderman, R. (2001), The role of social and psychologic resources in caregiving of cancer patients. Cancer, 91: 1029-1039. https://doi.org/10.1002/1097-0142(20010301)91:5<1029::AID-CNCR1094>3.0.CO;2-1
I can and I will keep my mental health in check while battling cancer.
By: Harshitha Sree. P 05/02/2021
When you think of cancer, you think of pain, death, suffering and several chemotherapy/radiation appointments. We see it from an outsider’s point of view. We often fail to acknowledge the inner demons a cancer patient suffers from. A cancer patient goes through so much pain that we can only dream of. Their future is uncertain, they cannot live in the moment. Some of them go months living in a hospital, with a longing to touch the outside world that they are barricaded from. And some attached to tubes all day long, tubes that remind them constantly of the suffering.Anxiety comes within the territory. Afraid of what is awaiting them, their fate unknown, their minds quenched in fear, eyes sorrow full of tears. Awaiting what their test reports have to say, what that means for their well being, and most importantly, will they be given the privilege to live to see another sunrise. Constant distress is another issue most cancer patients are chained to. The unpleasantness of their diagnoses, the failure to cope up. It can bring up several unexplained attributes from the patient, often dreadful actions/emotions. However, the worst thing they can suffer from is nothing but depression. It’s normal to be saddened, to be in grief. But to be depressed can cause more harm than cancer itself sometimes. The symptoms can be too much burden on the patient and push them into the deep void.
Symptoms do show up and can be recognised, however, it can be too late sometimes. Mental health is considered taboo in society and is often unspoken about, so there are very few that even recognise it to be true. The lack of cancer patient’s access to proper therapists is surprisingly more common than you would think. Many patients don’t have the financial means to see a therapist and many patients go undiagnosed. To a cancer patient, treatment options such as radiation, chemotherapy, extensive surgeries are prioritised, but there should be one more treatment option to be prioritised and that is regular counselling for the patients and their family/loved ones.
Citations :
Nijboer, C., Triemstra, M., Tempelaar, R., Sanderman, R. and van den Bos, G.A.M. (1999), Determinants of caregiving experiences and mental health of partners of cancer patients. Cancer, 86: 577-588. https://doi.org/10.1002/(SICI)1097-0142(19990815)86:4<577::AID-CNCR6>3.0.CO;2-S
Nijboer, C., Tempelaar, R., Triemstra, M., van den Bos, G.A.M. and Sanderman, R. (2001), The role of social and psychologic resources in caregiving of cancer patients. Cancer, 91: 1029-1039. https://doi.org/10.1002/1097-0142(20010301)91:5<1029::AID-CNCR1094>3.0.CO;2-1
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