Coping with stress and depression is the most problem that patients with metastatic breast cancer have. As such, most of them fear to share their problem with people due to fear of being stigmatized. According to Carlson et al., most of the people who die doubt attending hospitals, and due to lack of proper medication, their conditions worsen which leads to death (2016). Most people who suffer from stress have symptoms like feeling tired, agitated, and tearful and fear of being with people among other symptoms. Some go to the extent of being using alcohol to deal with this situation which is not useful but instead worsens it. The better ways of coping with stress and depression to a patient with breast cancer depend on how they are positive in their approach and how serious they adhere to the doctor’s advice.

According to Schellekens et al., the people who are suffering from depression and stress should ensure that they are active (2017. They should involve in physical activities that make their body active hence driving stress away. Such people should get enough physical activities on a daily or regular basis. For example, they can involve in running and doing exercises which is healthy for their body. Similarly, these people should stay positive in everything they do. According to Carlson et al., staying positive will enable one to overcome some challenges that they undergo in their lives like loneliness (2015). Some of the patients develop depression due to isolation as other people have separated from them. As such, they do not have enough reason to live making them losing hope. However, this should not be the case as they should be prepared and despite isolation, they should remain positive in their lives.

Patient suffering from depression and stress should take enough rest that makes their mind to be active. Ho et al., in their study realized that many of the cancer patients suffer depression and stress due to inadequate rest among them (2016).  The research is suggesting that if the patients can be given enough sleep and rest from hard tasks, they can become healthy in their life. Their condition requires trivial tasks that cannot drain much energy from their body but enough activities to make their body activity. These patients should avoid stimulants products as they affect the sleeping of someone. They advise that such patient should at least have a rest of seven hours a day which is enough for their mental processes to work usually. If they are not busy, they can also spare some of the time during the day to sleep.

According to Carlson et al., helping the patient of cancer cope with their condition does not involve the changing of their situation (2016). Instead, the skills that they gain from the mindfulness practice will help them to change the way they relate to the various situation. The skills will help them to have positive emotion such as the acceptance and the extinction of the worry, ramification as well as the experimental regulation. This is also supported by Schellekens et al., who argued that the actual orientation created will help the patient to have a quality life free from stress (2017). They will worry less about the isolation and avoidance they undergo but remain positive in everything. Further, the patients can develop a nonjudgmental awareness through the practice of mindfulness which decreases the psychological stress.

According to Schellekens et al., factors such as mood disturbance, and low quality of life affects the lives of the breast cancer survivors (2017). Most of the patients will have low moods which are dangerous as it affects how they relate with other people. To deal with this situation, the patient must learn to be independent, so they do not expect much offer or assistance from people. In this way, they will prevent problems that are associated with stigmatization that worsen their condition. The survivors can also be exposed to a manualized form of treatment that can help them to develop a high mood. If they do not respond to treatment, then they should be presented to the therapists. The therapist can advise on the professional who can, in turn, advise the patients on some of the remedies to use that can reduce the depression after cancer treatment.

Breast cancer patients should seek support from the online information provided by various organizations. According to Ho et al., breast cancer survivors should check for details on the multiple websites that post tips on how to cope with life after cancer therapy (2016). Such sites include Samaritans which provides information on the confidential, nonjudgmental emotional support throughout the day and night. This idea was supported by Carlson et al., who also in their study highlighted that the cancer survivors should keep up to date with some information from the internet so they can manage their condition (2015).

Cancer survivors are the most oppressed in society as some people see them to have a unique condition. This should not be the case as the society should change their perception to look at them in a normal way. According to Carlson, cancer is a disease though severe but is treatable if identified on time (2016). Cancer survivors always worry much as the belief that the condition is not curable and if therapy is done, it is cooled for some time before it becomes worse. This is not true as the survivors at no more at risk of getting cancer unless they do not follow the advice from the medical professional.

References

Carlson, L. E., Tamagawa, R., Stephen, J., Drysdale, E., Zhong, L., & Speca, M. (2016). Randomized‐controlled trial of mindfulness‐based cancer recovery versus supportive-expressive group therapy among distressed breast cancer survivors (MINDSET): long‐term follow‐up results. Psycho‐Oncology, 25(7), 750-759.

Carlson, L. E., Beattie, T. L., Giese‐Davis, J., Faris, P., Tamagawa, R., Fick, L. J., & Speca, M. (2015). Mindfulness‐based cancer recovery and supportive‐expressive therapy maintain telomere length relative to controls in distressed breast cancer survivors. Cancer, 121(3), 476-484.

Schellekens, M. P., Tamagawa, R., Labelle, L. E., Speca, M., Stephen, J., Drysdale, E., & Carlson, L. E. (2017). Mindfulness-Based Cancer Recovery (MBCR) versus Supportive-Expressive Group Therapy (SET) for distressed breast cancer survivors: evaluating mindfulness and social support as mediators. Journal of behavioral medicine, 40(3), 414-422.

Ho, R. T., Fong, T. C., Lo, P. H., Ho, S. M., Lee, P. W., Leung, P. P., & Chan, C. L. (2016). A randomized controlled trial of supportive-expressive group therapy and body-mind-spirit intervention for Chinese non-metastatic breast cancer patients. Supportive Care in Cancer, 24(12), 4929-4937.